Regular verge maintenance protects against waterlogging.
When Michael Hueske's friends say with a smirk that he works "in the gutter", they in no way mean it maliciously. In fact, the reason for such comments is that his company's field of work means that he spends a lot of time along the edge of roads. More specifically: the team at Landschaftspflege Hueske in Ahaus, northern Germany tends to the grass verges along all of the region's roads. From cycle paths to motorways, the employees are tasked with restoring the functional aspect of the road verges which slowly but surely become overgrown and dirty.
Banquet maintenance on 400 kilometers of road.
In 2004, Michael Hueske took over the business from his father. And since then he knows the roughly 400 kilometres of roads around his works yard like the back of his hand: "We recommend milling verges every five to ten years. That's because dirt and vegetation growth mean that the verges slowly grow higher and higher. And if left in that state, it also increases the risk of aquaplaning or frost damage to the road surface." The verge is a hand's width lower than the actual roadway. With of a negative gradient of between six and twelve percent, water accumulation on the road surface can be prevented.
But sometimes the opposite is also true. Especially on narrow roads, the verge is often driven on by vehicles avoiding oncoming traffic, and this pushes it outwards. In such cases, Hueske's equipment loosens the material, mixes it through and works it back up against the edge of the road before compacting it again.