Are you thinking of postponing pavement maintenance because of costs? You could incur even more costs when you are forced to replace whole sections. Preventative asphalt maintenance is essential to keeping paved surfaces functional and intact. Lack of asphalt maintenance exposes the surface to water damage, oxidation, and weather exposure. The most common type of pavement surface damage is cracking. Hairline cracks lead to more extensive cracks and eventually breaking away of whole sections of the pavement. What kinds of damage do you risk when you ignore asphalt maintenance?
1. Surface Oxidation From Sunlight
Asphalt surfaces are exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun. This light breaks down the asphalt and causes it to become brittle, dry, and crack. The UV rays can also cause other problems with the pavement surface that make the road more dangerous to drive on. Asphalt paving solutions do sealcoating to protect the surface from weather exposure.
2. Asphalt Stripping
Asphalt is made of petroleum products that easily dissolve in water. When water seeps into cracks in the pavement and freezes, it expands. This expansion pushes apart asphalt molecules, causing them to be stripped away from the pavement surface.
3. Raveling
Raveling is when small pieces of asphalt break off from the road's surface and collect on the shoulder or in ditches. This damage usually occurs at the edges and gradually eats away the pavement to leave potholes. The remedy involves patching the affected surfaces.
4. Potholes
Water can also freeze in potholes, which expands and causes the pavement to break apart. Potholes can also form when water seeps into pavement cracks and freezes. This damage can make a paved surface unusable because vehicle wheels can get stuck in deep holes or suffer suspension damage from the rough rides. Asphalt maintenance is crucial in preventing the cracking that leads to potholes.
5. Types of Cracking
Asphalt cracking can take many forms: longitudinal cracking, transverse cracking, star cracking, and potholes. Longitudinal cracks form parallel to the direction of travel on the highway. Transverse cracks form perpendicular to the direction of travel on the highway. Star cracks are star-shaped cracks that appear in a circular pattern around a hole.
Reflective cracks are a common sign of asphalt deterioration, but reflective cracking has a different cause. It occurs when the pavement surface starts to break on its own due to stresses in the asphalt. Asphalt paving solutions can do sealcoating to repair hairline cracks and resurfacing to repair more extensive cracks.
Regular maintenance of paved surfaces is essential in prolonging the lifespan. Contact asphalt maintenance surfaces to learn more about different types of asphalt pavement problems and their remedies.
For more information on the importance of asphalt maintenance, contact a professional near you.
Share11 March 2022
Paving contractors spend all day laying the pavement. We figured that the least we could do was write about it! In other words, we plan on laying the pavement of information. Yes, that sounds a little cheesy, but sometimes it's okay to sound cheesy when talking about something as serious as pavement. We caught your attention, didn't we? Now that we've caught your attention, allow us to share a little more about this blog. It will feature articles about paving and pavement contractors, and we plan on providing a lot of different information and perspectives as we go. You're welcome to join us!