GRANDVIEW, Mo. — Public works employees in Grandview are using high-tech methods to make long-term repairs to potholes.

Winter has left its mark on the metro, leaving numerous roads in the metro scarred with potholes. The hope is that bump that ruins your ride won’t be a repeat problem.

Public works officials from Grandview are using infrared pothole repair technology to repair some of the city’s biggest trouble spots.

Dennis Randolph, Grandview’s director of public works, explained how giant pavement heaters are used to return blacktop into a loose material. Then, that softened mix of old and new material is smoothed out with a steamroller. It’s considered new technology for the midwestern part of the United States, according to Randolph.

“It makes a permanent patch where there are potholes,” Randolph said.

Randolph said he hails from Michigan, originally. He’s using a Kansas City-based work crew to repair potholes as its done in cold, northern climates.

“They do a nice job, and the reason is they heat is up, not only the material that was repairing the spot, but the edges of the materials, the existing street, and everything bonds together,” Randolph said. “Water can’t get into it. Water is the problem. Water and cold temperatures, especially will blow pavement apart or a utility cut. I’ve had good luck, actually.”

Money for pothole work comes from the city’s repair budget. Randolph said it costs slightly more than the old method of just filling the hole, but it will be worth it when crews don’t have to come back to the spots every year.