Potholes, bowl shaped openings that usually have raveled edges and can be up to 10 inches deep, are created when moisture seeps into the pavement and contracts or expands, weakening the pavement; as traffic drives over these weakened areas, it eventually crumbles and breaks away. Potholes often develop from badly cracked, or alligatored, areas of pavement. If not repaired early on, these potholes will expand and could eventually affect the pavement foundation.
A Pothole |
Liability Issues
Potholes create serious liability issues in parking lot and roadway areas not only because of the potential damage to vehicles but also because of the potential trip hazard to tenants, customers, employees and pedestrians.
Furthermore, repairing potholes before liability issues arise can avoid fraudulent and unreasonable injury settlements. Potholes can form during any season and should be repaired immediately before worsening or causing serious injury or other damage.
Remedy
The potholes formation means that moisture and air voids have already formed under the pavement surface, allowing the pavement to weaken and become crumbled. This means that cutting and patching will be necessary to repair the pothole area and the surrounding broken pavement by:
- Cutting the area square beyond the damaged area - to ensure underlying problems that have not yet surfaced are also corrected - with a jack hammer.
- The broken asphalt is then excavated and the base is compact as necessary to prepare for new asphalt.
- At least 1.5" of asphalt binder and 1.5" of asphalt topcoat are installed and compacted.
- Edges are emulsified and sanded for proper bonding.
NOTE: Jack hammering is predominantly used because of the toothed effect on the pavement, where the newly installed asphalt fits with old asphalt in the most effective way. Saw cutting is also available upon request.
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