What Causes Potholes in Asphalt Surfaces?

Have you been driving on the roads and notice lots of potholes?  You'll want to swerve to prevent your car from hitting them, but that's a dangerous move.  When asphalt suffers wear and tear, it can become riddled by potholes or cracks.  For business owners and government agencies, smooth roadways are a safety concern.  This can cause damage to your customers' vehicles, pedestrian accidents, and potential injuries.  Our company offers asphalt paving and sealcoating in Austin, TX to help keep your roadways and parking lots in the best condition for your business and your citizen's safety.  There are three main causes of potholes on asphalt surfaces.

Heavy Traffic

One of the main causes of potholes on any roads is the constant heavy traffic on the roads.  This causes to suffer from fatigue.  If you receive frequent truck deliveries at your business, this can cause the asphalt to weaken over time, which can then develop potholes.  When traffic continually travels over the same exact area many times, cracks can form.  These cracks can then cause the asphalt to break down and cause larger potholes to form.

Heavy Rains and Water Damage

When your parking lot or roadway begins to crack under the weight of too much traffic, it can then allow water to become trapped inside.  Over time, this water can erode the quality of the asphalt, which can result in larger cracks or potholes.  These can then continue to grow in size as heavy rainfall destroys your asphalt.  It is essential to treat your asphalt as soon as you notice any initial damage to avoid substantial potholes and cracks that can wreak havoc on your parking lot.

Heat and Extreme Temperatures

Even though the temperatures in Texas tend to stay higher on the thermometer, there are times when we suffer from extreme heat.  These high temperatures can degrade the quality of the asphalt over time.  Although this isn't the most common cause of potholes on our roads, they do contribute to the overall quality of the asphalt.  In northern states, extremely low temperatures can degrade the road quality much faster, which contributes to the development of potholes during the winter months.  Texas roads do not suffer from low temperatures for this to be a road concern.

These are just a few of the common causes of potholes in parking lots and roadways.  In order to maintain safety and avoid costly law suits, you want to keep the parking lots and roads of your business in the best condition possible.  By being aware of the dangers of heavy traffic, extreme temperatures, and water damage, you can help to keep the potholes away from your parking lot.  When you are in need of asphalt paving or sealcoating in Austin, TX, give us a call to hear how we can help you today.