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-- OriginalOwner_ [tinyurl.com] writes:

from the good-for-multiple-types-of-cracks dept.

The Denver Post reports [denverpost.com]

At first glance, [the city of Littleton, Colorado] looks like ground zero for Halloween pranksters this year--toilet paper is strewn across street after street and block after block.

The messy look prompted a few irritated inquiries from residents on the city's Facebook page this week, like this one from Madison Lucas: "This is UGLY!! All over Littleton!!" Or from Stephanie Gregory : "My kids and I thought it was vandalism."

But the TP'ing scheme is actually the work of the city itself. Littleton is using bathroom tissue as part of an effort to seal the myriad cracks that plague road surfaces in this city. It is tackling 120 streets with this bottoms-up tactic.

[...]The TP, applied with a paint roller, absorbs the oil from freshly laid tar as it dries, keeping it from sticking to people's shoes or car and bike tires. With the paper's protective abilities, asphalt isn't tracked all over the city or splattered on wheel wells. And the biodegradable paper breaks down and disappears in a matter of days.

[...]Kelli Narde, a spokeswoman for Littleton, said the real benefit of using toilet paper is that it allows traffic to retake the road right after a crack is filled.

"It means traffic has better access because we don't have to close down a street to do the sealing", she said.

Littleton is not the first to take this approach to wiping out cracks on its roadways. Lincoln, Neb. [journalstar.com] is one of a number of cities across the United States that have already spun the center roll to address deteriorating asphalt.

Original Submission