Potholes: Why They Form and How They Should Be Fixed

How a pothole forms

It starts as a crack. Water enters, saturates the base, traffic flexes the weakened area, and pieces break free. Freeze-thaw accelerates it, but water is the root cause.

Why cold patch fails

Throwing cold mix in a hole doesn't remove the failed material or fix the wet base. It buys weeks, sometimes months.

How it should be repaired

Saw-cut a square around the failure, remove all loose material down to sound base, repair or replace the stone, apply tack coat to the vertical faces, then place and compact hot mix in lifts.

Infrared repair

For surface-level potholes on otherwise sound pavement, infrared heating lets us reheat and blend the existing asphalt with new mix for a seamless, joint-free patch.

Preventing the next one

Seal cracks annually and keep water off the surface. Nearly every pothole we repair was a sealable crack two years earlier.