WA Highway That ‘Exploded’ Due to Heat Nothing New, Say Experts

Many people had never seen this happen, but apparently in other parts of the country that experience extreme heat, it does.

A section of Highway 195 that runs from Spokane to Colfax 'exploded' this week due to extreme heat, with several sections buckling and breaking.

Highway 195 is the part of the road that's four-lane South of Spokane.  The extreme heat wave seen by the region caused the road to actually buckle and break, almost as if parts had exploded.

Authorities with the Department of Transportation said the extreme heat caused the expansion joints in between the big concrete slabs in the road to expand.  They're designed to do so to allow for movement, and expansion and contraction so the road doesn't crack as quickly.

However, sometimes the expansion allows concrete sections to move together and touch.  The resulting pressure of the two sections pushing together put up such force that portions of the concrete to break off an fly up in the air, or "explode."

It's rare, but not uncommon in areas where extreme heat are the norm.  We just haven't seen it happen much here.

The road was fixed and traffic was flowing normally late Tuesday.