Idaho transportation officials put together a $450,000 emergency repair project when pavement on Interstate 90 broke apart this winter.
The Spokesman-Review reports Idaho Transportation Department officials say people's lives were at stake when a midwinter thaw caused potholes to open up on I-90 through Coeur d'Alene. The department patched the cracks during two nights in late January.
An extra thick bonding agent was used to help seal the asphalt patches.
Department employee Mike Lenz says most of the pavement failure occurred in the more heavily traveled right lanes in both directions. He says moisture left in the pavement after a wet fall and a hard freeze caused it to fail as soon as conditions thawed out.
Lenz says hitting potholes at highway speeds is dangerous.