WINDHAM – The Maine Department of Transportation has completed a rut removal project at the intersection of routes 115, 35 and 302 in North Windham, known as Boody’s Corner, that was put on hold last fall due to cold weather.

Last October, the department initiated an effort to eliminate the rutting, or grooves, that were identified by town officials weeks after the department completed a major reconstruction project along 1.16 miles of Route 302 beginning at the busy intersection and stretching north.

But after placing a thin layer of asphalt on the rutted areas of the intersection – a process known as “shimming” – temperatures dipped below 50 degrees, forcing the department to postpone the remainder of the project.

On Monday, Pike Industries removed the asphalt from the rutted parts of Boody’s Corner, and repaved in a process known as “mill-and-fill.” The state paid for the $35,000 fix.

“Where they milled and paved this year is where those thin little layers of asphalt were last year,” said Windham Public Works Director Doug Fortier.

Ruts hold water and ice, can cause hydroplaning, and make plowing difficult.

Pike Industries completed the initial $1.1 million, mill-and-fill reconstruction project, along a stretch of North Windham’s Route 302, from the route’s 115/35 intersection to Whites Bridge Road in July and August of 2013.

According to project manager Denis Lovely of the department of transportation, the fact that rutting reappeared almost immediately after the initial project’s completion likely involves structural problems in the road.

“I believe it’s a problem with a road, not with the quality of the work that was done last time,” Lovely said.

Pike Industries could not be reached for comment.

An analysis of core pavement samples, taken by Maine Department of Transportation crews, revealed rut issues within a layer that sits 5 inches beneath the surface pavement applied by Pike Industries in the summer of 2013, Lovely said.

“We milled out the whole road and shortly after we performed that work at some of the intersections we noticed that the asphalt was showing a rut,” Lovely said.

Lovely said analysis of the samples revealed “plastic deformation” in an underlying layer of pavement, which is contributing to the remaining rutting issues.

“Plastic deformation describes what happens when the asphalt mix moves or deforms under traffic loads, and the material does not return to its previous shape, flat and smooth, after it deforms,” versus an elastic deformation, said Lovely, which “describes what happens when the asphalt mix moves or deforms under traffic loads, and the material does return to its previous shape.”

According to Lovely, the persistence of rutting at Boody’s Corner is unusual. Lovely said he hopes it does not appear again.

“We actually went a little deeper this time and a little thicker with our new mix,” he said. “We’re hoping it doesn’t have to be done again next year.”

Heavy machinery was back at Boody’s Corner in North Windham on Monday as crews from Pike Industries laid a new skim of pavement to address underlying rutting issues. The ruts became visible shortly after last summer’s reconstruction project along Route 302. Pike Industries brings a big crew and lots of equipment to Boody’s Corner in Windham as a problematic paving job is repaired amid heavy morning traffic on Monday.