Can chicken feathers smooth over Winnipeg's pothole problem?

Potholes, the sworn enemy of driversdamagecars, cause nasty coffee spillsand cost Manitobans millions of dollars.

The City of Winnipeg spent $2.6 million on pothole repairs in 2014 andsince March 1,Winnipeg's 311 line has received more than 400 complaints.

After winning top prize at ascience fair,Quebec grade nine student David Ballas thinks he knows a way out of our rut: Chicken feathers.

Ballasknows the lifecycle of a pothole.

"What happens is the water passes through a seam, and then once it freezes up it lifts up the asphalt and creates a pothole," he said in an interview on CBC'sInformation Radio with Marcy Markusa.

But to prevent them, Ballas says, he needed to find a substance that would stop water from entering the asphalt in the first place. One that is cheap, and also waterproof.

I went on the Internet and I was searching what products in Quebec specifically are being wasted...and are not being used, he said.

That search led him to chicken feathers.

Chicken feathers virtually worthless

Chicken feathers, like oil, plasticsand rubber boots, are hydrophobic, which meansthey repel water.

Ballas ordered a box for $10, then got to experimenting.

I took twoper centof the chicken feathers and I mixed it with an asphalt mixture, he said.

I made one [sample]with the chicken feathers and one regular type of road.

Ballasdunked the two road surfaces in 500millimetresof water and measured the amount ofwater that permeated each sample.

The chicken feathers made a difference.

The results showed that more than half of the water went through on the regular asphalt and only 6 millimetreswent through on my asphalt, he said.

Ballasseesfar-reaching implications for his research.

The new type of mixture of chicken feathers and asphalt that I made is a more efficient and cost-effective way to redo all the roads, he said.

But will the City of Winnipegseriously consider Ballas' research?

We are always looking for opportunities where technology can be supported by scientific facts," a spokesperson wrote.

Listen toDavid Ballas' fullinterview on CBC'sInformation RadioonWedensday at 7:10 a.m.CT.