Q. Is there a way to prevent potholes? My driveway is made of the same thing as the street, but has few cracks or sunken spots. My street, by comparison, is terrible. They fill the holes every year, and every year the holes come back. In 20 years, I haven’t seen my street repaved, like the others in my neighborhood. I complain but nothing gets done. What can be done to permanently fix the street? I know that highways don’t have as many problems, so there must be a way to avoid all the holes, car accidents and repairs. What is it?
A. It doesn’t take a roads scholar to answer this question, but it does take well-spent money, good design, management and timing to get the job to last. Whether it’s an airport runway, highway, parking lot or driveway, the design of roadways is based on the use.
The first major roadway projects were built for heavy wear and tear, and the expense was justified because the roads were part of a major military expenditure to move vast amounts of heavy military equipment, like tanks, transports and Jeeps over land quickly and efficiently through the National Highway Act. Once in a while you’ll find a pocked stretch of highway, but for the most part, the amount of potholed highway, compared with local streets, is minimal, so it is possible to have better roads.
Like any good construction job, if you want it to last, you have to use better, stronger, correctly installed materials. That seems easier said than done. It comes at a higher price, although part of the problem is management and cooperative communications. For example, when a brand new paved road is cut up for water, sewer or power lines that could have been scheduled before paving, it creates uneven pavement, and what are referred to as “cold joints.” These joints, as with any material, allow water to seep in and the joined materials to “let go,” separate from each other and open up the area where potholes begin.