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Pothole Repair or Pavement Restoration

Successful maintenance requires matching the repair method to the customer�s needs, expectations, and budget.

A finished spray-injection patch shows that while the process can fill a hole or repair damaged pavement quickly, it will not improve damage to the base or subbase or improve the structural integrity of surrounding pavement.

This pothole is surrounded by sound pavement and might be a candidate for a high-performance mix, spray patching, or infrared repair.

While the pothole above is surrounded by severely damaged pavement that likely has damaged base or subbase. The pothole above probably requires the old-fashioned remove-and-replace approach - or the throw-and-go approach to keep it filled until the entire pavement can be fixed.

Unique Paving Materials

High-perfomance cold mix is often formulated for the specific climate and aggregate of a region. While more expensive initially than a standard cold mix, high-performance mixes last longer, reducing the life-cycle cost of the repair.

New Life Surface Solutions

A different approach to high-performance pavement repair is a liquid repair that is mixed in a 5-gallon bucket at the site.

Ray-Tech Infrared Corp.

Infrared restoration has many uses, and chief among them is pothole repair. Infrared reseals the surface, extends beyond the pothole to help seal surrounding cracks, and seals the edges of the repair to prevent water penetration.

Heat Design Equipment

A pothole heated by infrared process in the winter. After heating the pavement is workable and, with addition of a little bit of mix, contractors can repair the pothole and bring the damaged pavement back up to grade.

Crafco

Spray patching uses air pressure to clear a pothole, sprays a tack coat in the hole, blows asphalt and aggregate into the hole at 50 to 90 mph, velocity compacts from the bottom up, then covers the patched area with aggregate.

The Pothole Medic

Loyed Woodland, The Pothole Medic, sees spray injection patching as the future of pothole repair.

Read More On-Site from ForConstructionPros.com

By Allan Heydorn
Editor

All contractors have encountered the client who was unhappy with the finished job because he and the contractor weren't on the same page when discussing the actual work. This happens less often in pavement marking or sealcoating, but it can easily happen when contractors begin bidding pothole repair work. That's because repairing a pothole is somewhat of an inexact science. Factors to be considered include not only the client's budget but the size of the defect, the need to get the pothole repaired quickly, the quality of the surrounding pavement, and the expectation of how long the repair is going to last.

But make no mistake about it: Pothole repair is a staple of many pavement maintenance contractors' services. Pothole repair is a great way to introduce your firm to new customers, gives you an opportunity to showcase yourself by performing well on a small job, gives you an "in" to return, and in many cases enables you to sell future pavement restoration work right on the spot. Plus, pothole repair can help you keep your crew busy and keep some cash flowing throughout the slow winter months and give you early season work to do in the spring when weather is not conducive to other types of projects.

In fact, research conducted for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has determined that even though potholes need to be repaired during the winter, "better climatic conditions increase the life expectancy for patches placed in the spring."

"The goal of spring patching operations should be to place patches that last as long as the surrounding pavement," according to FHWA's Materials and Procedures for Repair of Potholes in Asphalt Surfaced Pavements. "Patches surviving as long as the surrounding pavement reduce the cost of the overall operation by reducing the amount of labor, equipment, and material needed."

Anatomy of a pothole

Potholes result when the pavement or the base or subbase beneath it cannot support the weight of the traffic. This is true whether the pavement is a parking lot or a roadway. And while traffic always has an impact on a weakened pavement, the main culprit in creating potholes is moisture. Any time there are cracks in the surface, moisture has access to the subbase.