Potholes are an unfortunate reality across the northern portions of the United States. The freezing and thawing cycles that occur with the changing of the seasons can wreak havoc on roads and pavement, and potholes are just one example of the results that can occur.
Potholes occur when ice and water from rain or melting snow move the soil underneath the surface of the concrete or asphalt. This results in less support for the paved surface. As vehicles repeatedly drive over that unsupported surface area, holes can result, and they’ll gradually grow wider and deeper over time. The water and ice often get down under the surface from cracks or holes in the concrete that were not patched up earlier.
When potholes appear in roads, they pose a danger to drivers and vehicles that may run over them. There’s not much you can personally do about potholes in city streets other than taking a different route or trying to avoid them when you see them. But when the pothole is in your own driveway, you should make it a priority to fix it up so you can protect your car and the cars of anyone else who may visit your property.
When a car hits a pothole, at the very least you risk damaging your tires, either hurting the sidewalls or the treads of the tires. Potholes can also damage the wheels, exhaust system or suspension, or if you have a low-riding vehicle, its body. The kind of damage that might occur to your vehicle really depends on the size of the pothole, the kind of vehicle you have and the speed and angle at which you hit the hole. The damage can, in some cases, end up being major.
Here’s some information from our team about driveway pothole repair in Philadelphia, PA.
Fixing a pothole in your driveway
Fixing potholes in an asphalt driveway is relatively simple. You can purchase pre-mixed asphalt patching products. Remove debris from the hole, and then just pour the patch material into the hole, pushing it down to make it compact and even with the surrounding pavement. Add as much patching material as you need to make sure it completely fills in the hole, then add just a bit extra on top. You may need to wait a bit to put sealer on the new asphalt—the instructions on the material packaging should tell you how long that will take.
If you have a dirt driveway you can remove the debris and fill it in with dirt instead of the asphalt patch material. The same is true with gravel driveways as well. In both cases, fill in the hole so it rises just above the surface of the driveway, then drive over the area to compact the material, adding more as necessary.
It can help to add dirt or gravel to the center of the driveway when installing it so that water runs off to either side rather than accumulating in the middle. This will help prevent potholes from forming in the first place.
For more information about driveway pothole repair in Philadelphia, PA, contact the team at Philly Concrete & Asphalt Paving Inc. today.