How do potholes work?

Question

You know what I mean - there's a nice pothole in the road, a good foot across, just the thing to wreak havoc on your car. And one day, they come and fill it in. (Miracles can happen!) So they put in some stones and gravel and earth or whatever, and seal it over with tar, and it's as good as new. Yet six months later, it's back, just the same size, the same depth, as though nothing had happened.

So where did all the new stones and things go? They can't keep on piling up indefinitely, surely? Is this a phenomenon the physicists should study?

Answer 1

If the B layer is faulty it will happen again and again , it moves underneath the tarr cracks and the cars, tucks es. take it away and open it nicely for you to go trough it again

Answer 2

Firstly its as Slipperman says because of shoddy work.

The "Phenomenon" however goes all the way down below the surface of the road to what engineers call the road’s base. The problem with most streets is that they have an untreated base. That means that the dirt used to support the asphalt or concrete surface has had no additives — anything from gravel to ash,to help ward off water.The result is that the base frequently shrinks and expands with moisture, putting stress on the road. That causes cracks to develop, allowing water to seep through and cause further deterioration.

Then, before you know it, you’re driving down a city street, look away to tune the radio and are jolted back into reality by your right front tire entering the "Vaal Dam"

Answer 3

When they fill a pothole - it is filled with a combination of stone, sand and cement  - Yes Concrete..

Concrete is SUPPOSED to set for up to 7 days before it reaches it full strength - then TAR is supposed to be placed on top...

The problem is - and I have observed it in a number of instances is they put the concrete in - then they TAR a few hours later - the concrete then does not set and become brittle - therefore after a few months or weeks - when a car drives over it - it simply disintegrates (powder underneath) and they have to start the whole process again

If they did it properly the first time - the repairs would last a lot longer and save the tax payer a LOT of MONEY!!!

Answer 4

I am afraid to say it is the war veterans again. When they were young, they used to enjoy putting all sorts of amusing things in potholes, and when there were no potholes - in the days of the whiteys, there were not so many - they would make some. We tried telling them to tunnel in from under the side of the road and not make a hole in the tarmac, but African freedom fighters, even ZANLA or ZIPRA, do not always listen to what you teach them. And even when they did tunnel in from the side, it would all fall in on top of them, so you'd get a long pothole. Sometimes I wonder how we would ever have kicked the whiteys out if Mr Vorster had not been so incredibly stupid.

edit: 'Ello Sins - I have missed you. It has been terribly busy around here of late, although things are calming down a bit now!

Answer 5

If you look to the sides of the road, you will likely see little bits of the filler material.  Also, as vehicles drive over the cold or hot patch, some of the oily materials stick to tires and are pulled away to be pulverized as the tires roll away and crush the softer material against the harder, non-potholed road.

Depending on your climate and time of year, hot or cold patch might be used.  In New England, cold patch is often used as a quick fix until warmer weather enables a more permanent solution.  Here again, there is another source of loss: snow plows, which push the little pieces off the road and mix them with sand and salt.

Answer 6

Since they are there 9 months of the year we plant seasonal flowers in them ! You can at least see them when it rains and they do beautify our f-up roads !

Answer 7

I was not aware of the fact they do!

Have you any ideas about salaries, benefits, leave entitlement etc.?

Ello you. :-)

Answer 8

How do potholes work? They work by gradually moving earth as they are driven over, and yes, they work much harder than the average "afemtiv ekshen" candidate! ;-) Ha ha ha ha!

Answer 9

The car maintenance industry is responsible for supplying material for resealing pot holes!

Answer 10

So that you can see what it looks like "down under":

http://www.africancrisis.org/images/Sout...

Answer 11

Anyone remember The Borrowers?

I blame them... I think they are secretly building their own tiny road network and using the stones, tarmac etc to do this.

By making Pot-holes they have an infinate supply of road surfacing supplied!

Answer 12

Traffic, especially heavy goods vehicles can cause the tarmac to break and be pulled off, just like scratching a scab, then subsequent vehicles pull the foundation out again.