After carefully checking all four tires in a dunk tank . . . we found pieces of metal (maybe steel) deep in the treads, worn down so they were hard to see, but still there. I’m making a call to the construction project manager tomorrow, I don’t want money but I DO want the construction crew(s) on this project to be more careful and to do a better job cleaning up the travel part of the detour on my commute. I wonder how many other folks on this route have reported the same thing? Thanks for your comments! Rocketman
I think almost everyone on your commute experienced the same tire problems. Maybe you should submit a bill for the problem, but to the government organization responsible for the road work. That is more likely to get the construction company to clean up better.
I remember a few years back a scrap metal truck lost its load on a downtown Detroit freeway. The highway was littered with cars with one, 2, 3 or even 4 flat tires. Quite the mess. I think they charged the scrap truck driver for failure to secure his load but I don’t know if the cars affected got compensated. You’d probably have to submit a claim to the trucker’s insurance or file in small claims court.
When they were building houses in my neighborhood, at every stop sign there would be nails. I got 3 nails in 3 different brand new tires. I was following a work truck and nails were all over the bumper. As soon as he took off from the stop sign all the nails flew all over the road. I got out and spent 5 minutes picking up nails.
I remember several years ago, on the way to work, I’d have to drive on a freeway that always had a lot of construction vehicles traveling on it also
And it was back in the days BEFORE it was required to cover the load with a tarp
So the sand and stuff would pretty much ruin your windshield, over time 
“I got out and spent 5 minutes picking up nails.”
At my job, we service only fleet vehicles. And many of these guys have nails, screws, rivets, etc., which eat up tires
Every time I’m walking somewhere at work, I’m looking down, looking for shiny things. I often find metal objects, which would ruin tires, if I left them there. I pick them up and immediately thrown them in the trash, or the metal recycling bin, whichever is closer
I’m very careful myself and keep a sharps container in the garage for screws, nails, and anything sharp so it can be disposed of without getting scattered.
At the landfill, construction guys unload their stuff into the dumpsters and before I’ll drive on the concrete pad, I walk it to pick up all the nails. Twice I’ve found nails scattered. I complained about it too but they’d have to run a magnet over it after ever load got dumped.
We had the same thing with the guy that built our cabin. He had a trailer and the door was open and parked in the parking area. Nails strewn all over the floor of the trailer on on the parking area. I walked the area a number of times looking for nails.
When we had our roof done, the contractor used a magnet all around the house. Then I used the magnet myself and got another handful of nails. I still found a nail the other day embedded in the dirt.
I hate nails. I would think though the contractor would have a truck with the magnet on it to sweep the area if they are dumping debris like that, so yeah I contact whoever hired them. Who wants new tires with a bunch of boots in them.
I just drove 35 miles to a friend’s house on our local loop interstate highway. There seemed to be an epidemic of people changing flat tires, maybe as much as 10 cars or more, along the way. I didn’t see any active construction zones, but there were three within half a mile of each other, then the rest were spaced out every few miles. I couldn’t figure out what may have caused it.
A local tire store owner said they find more nails, screws, etc. in rear tires vs.front. His theory is that the front tire picks the object up and tumbles it back to impale the rear tire. There’s a logic there since a nail laying down shouldn’t cause a puncture.
I am always looking for pennies, dimes etc. Have found enough, but 10 times more plentiful are nails, screws, metal shards I always pick up to save someone a flat.
I got the phone number from the trailer on the side of the road (portable office for the construction crew) and called, of course no human just voicemail. Tomorrow I’ll call the county engineer and ask who is in charge of this job and make my formal complaint. I’d like to complain to a local legislator but I know it will be a “fart in the wind”, but I’d really like to get somebody to take responsibility and try to fix it, stop it from happening again. The construction crew seems to be there for the long haul, maybe I’ll look for another route to my job. Rocketman
" . . . I always pick up to save someone a flat."
Yup
the next guy could be you
That’s part of the reason I pick up nails as soon as I see them
@rocketman, your local legislators should know a good thing when it lands in their lap. Your complaint is a chance for them to gain a lot of votes for free. By taking up your complaint, they will help you and many of your neighbors with the same complaint. Actions like that will get them re-elected and they know it.
You’re saying a legislator would only do this to get votes??? You mean he/she wouldn’t do it to simply serve those represented??? I wish there was a sarcasm font…
I believe they would do both, but wailing on civil servants really is a free voting machine for elected officials. I used to ride in a carpool with a local elected official and he said it was his biggest vote generator. He wouldn’t do it if he disagreed with the request or, but he really put his heart into it when he took up a cause.