January 11, 2001

Patching potholes becomes EZ

EZ Street asphalt patch can be stored for about six months outdoors in bulk form.

Lakeside Industries is sitting on easy street. Better make that "EZ Street" -- as in the name for a new cold asphalt repair material the company has started making at its Issaquah and Portland divisions. The company guarantees EZ Street will permanently fix potholes, utility cuts and adjustments, small patches, overlays and edge repairs in asphalt.

Repairing a pothole with EZ Street is as simple as placing the material in the hole, compacting it and walking away. No mixing is involved and it can be used in all weather conditions, even in water. The product's mix of choice aggregates, oil and special polymers allows it to adhere to its surrounding surface but not to rubber tires or equipment.

EZ Street costs $68 a ton for customer pickup in Issaquah and $70 a ton in Portland. The slight difference in cost is due to higher aggregate costs in the Portland area. Lakeside can deliver the product at an additional cost.

Lakeside Industries sells EZ Street in 35- and 50-pound bags, as well as by the ton.

Lakeside early last year signed a licensing agreement with Miami-based EZ Street, the product's inventor, to manufacture the material and began marketing it in bulk to government agencies and contractors. Now, Lakeside is gearing up to sell the material in 35- and 50-pound bags.

"We are just starting to try to market to lumber yards and contractor's supply locations for smaller applications," said Rick Rawlings of Lakeside in Issaquah. The bags have been available locally for about a week.

Part of Lakeside's license agreement stipulates that EZ Street will supply the bags for the material. Rawlings said 35-pound bags of EZ Street retail for about $13.50 while 50-pounders go for about $15. The smaller bags differ from the larger ones in that they are re-closable and have a carrying handle.

Rawlings said the shelf life of the product in a bulk stockpile is about six months, and in bag form it's over a year.

Lakeside has over 100 customers using the product now, and Rawlings said that is just the tip of the iceberg. He said the company is marketing the patch in all of Washington and Oregon, plus southeast Alaska and part of Idaho.

Rawlings said he likes EZ Street because it is permanent and is so well received by his customers. "I frequently hear people say this is by far the best product of its type they have used."

Some of Lakeside's bulk customers include the state Department of Transportation, Pierce County Public Works, Puget Sound Energy, Pilchuck Contractors, North Sky Communications, and the cities of Issaquah, Ellensburg, Renton and Kent.

Bruce Wagner, District 2 manager for Pierce County Public Works, said he has had a "very positive" experience using the product. "So far, every indication is it works as they said it would," he said.

Pierce County used EZ Street late last fall to repair the deck of the Eighth Avenue East/North Muck Creek Bridge near the town of Roy. Wagner said the deck of the wood stringer bridge has been flexing because of its age, causing the pavement to crack. Crews repaved the bridge with a 2-inch layer of EZ Street, which they found to be more flexible with better bonding characteristics. Wagner said a typical hot-mix overlay would have likely cracked in a month due to the bridge's flexing.

Wagner said the project resulted in significant savings for the county, and provided a better ride for the traveling public.

For pothole repairs, Wagner said his workers told him the material is easier to work with and packs into the hole better than traditional patches. He did say the material costs about double that of a cold patch, which is considered a temporary fix.

EZ Street has also been used to repair cracks and holes in concrete, but it doesn't match up well color-wise because it's black.

Although EZ Street is new to the Northwest, the product has been around since 1995 in other parts of the country, and is now produced in 15 states. Lakeside learned about the product at a national tradeshow.

Rawlings said sales of EZ Street are a small piece of Lakeside's business, which he describes as the largest producer of asphalt in the Northwest.

More information on the product can be found online at www.ezstreetasphalt.com.

Previous columns:

• Squeaky clean at dizzying heights, 01-04-2001
• Faux fires are a gas for local company, 12-21-2000
• Hospital job is deja vu for project manager, 12-14-2000
• Challenges of maritime work fuel Manson, 12-07-2000
• Flash Gordon meets the backhoe, 11-30-2000
• Vegetated rooftops are taking root, 11-16-2000
• Seattle firm focuses on keeping concrete clean, 11-09-2000
• New span bridges the past, 11-02-2000