N
CATEGORY
CRACKING
DISTRESS
TYPE
DESCRIPTION
CAUSES
REMEDIES
Fatigue
Series of
[Link] in pavement load
[Link], localized
(Alligator)
interconnected
supporting characteristics
cracking
square feet or
Cracking
cracks caused by
(indicative of a loss of subgrade
square meters of
support).
area
Loss of base, subbase or
fatigue failure of
subgrade support (e.g.,
the Asphalt
poor drainage or spring
surface under
thaw resulting in a less
repeated traffic
stiff base).
loading.
fatigue
METHOD OF
EVALUATION
Remove the cracked
pavement area - dig out and
Stripping on the bottom
replace the area of poor
of the HMA layer (the
subgrade and improve the
stripped portion
drainage of that area if
contributes little to
necessary.
pavement strength so
Patch over the repaired
the effective HMA
thickness decreases)
subgrade.
[Link] fatigue cracked areas
indicative of general structural
[Link] in loading
[Link] structural
design
[Link] construction (e.g.,
inadequate compaction)
failure.
Place a Hot Mix Asphalt over
the entire pavement surface.
Measured in
Block
Interconnected
Cracking
cracks that divide
the pavement up
into rectangular
pieces
Caused by an inability of asphalt
binder to expand and contract
with temperature cycles
because of:
[Link] severity cracks (< 1/2 inch
Measured in
wide).
square feet or
Crack seal to prevent
square meters of
Entry of moisture into
Asphalt binder aging
the subgrade through
Poor choice of asphalt
the cracks
binder in the mix design
further ravelling of the
crack edges.
HMA can provide years of
satisfactory service after
developing small cracks if
they are kept sealed
[Link] severity cracks (> 1/2 inch
wide and cracks with ravelled
edges).
Remove and replace the
cracked pavement layer with
an overlay.
area
Joint
Cracks in a
Movement of the PCC slab
[Link] severity cracks (< 1/2 inch
Measured in linear
Reflection
flexible overlay of
beneath the HMA surface
wide and infrequent cracks).
feet or linear
Cracking
a rigid pavement.
because of thermal and
Crack seal to prevent
The cracks occur
moisture changes. Generally not
directly over the
load initiated, however loading
the subgrade through the
underlying rigid
can hasten deterioration.
cracks
pavement joints.
Entry of moisture into
Further ravelling of the
crack edges.
In general, rigid pavement
joints will eventually reflect
through an HMA overlay
without proper surface
preparation.
[Link] severity cracks (> 1/2 inch
wide and numerous cracks).
Remove and replace the
cracked pavement layer with
an overlay.
meters
Longitudin
Cracks parallel to
Poor joint construction or
[Link] severity cracks (< 1/2 inch
Measured in linear
al Cracking
the pavement's
location. Joints are generally the
wide and infrequent cracks).
feet or linear
centreline or lay
least dense areas of a
down direction.
pavement. Therefore, they
should be constructed outside of
the wheel path so that they are
only infrequently loaded. Joints
Crack seal to prevent
Entry of moisture into the
subgrade through the cracks
Further ravelling of the crack
edges.
in the wheel path will general fail
[Link] severity cracks (> 1/2 inch
prematurely.
wide and numerous cracks).
A reflective crack from
Remove and replace the
an underlying layer (not
cracked pavement layer with an
including joint reflection
overlay.
cracking)
HMA fatigue (indicates
the onset of future
alligator cracking)
top-down cracking
meters
Surface shrinkage
Transverse
Cracks
Cracking
perpendicular to
caused by low
the pavement's
temperatures.
centerline or lay
High temperature
down direction.
susceptibility of
Usually a type of
the asphalt
thermal cracking.
cement binder in
asphalt mixes.
Frost action.
Reflection cracks.
Measured in linear
[Link] severity cracks (< 1/2 inch feet or linear
wide and infrequent cracks).
meters
Crack seal to prevent
Entry of moisture into the
subgrade through the cracks
Further ravelling of the crack
edges.
HMA can provide years of
satisfactory
service
after
developing small cracks if they
are kept sealed
[Link] severity cracks (> 1/2 inch
wide and numerous cracks).
Remove
and
replace
the
cracked pavement layer with
an overlay
Slippage
Crescent or half-
Caused by a low-strength
Removal and replacement of
Measured in linear
Cracking
moon shaped
surface mix or poor bonding
affected area.
feet or linear
cracks generally
between the surface HMA layer
having two ends
and the next underlying layer in
pointed into the
the pavement structure.
meters
direction of traffic.
SURFACE
DEFORMATI
ON
Rutting
Surface
depression in the
wheel path
Insufficient
compaction
of HMA layers during
Slight ruts (< 1/3 inch deep)
can generally be left
construction. If it is not
compacted
untreated.
enough
initially, HMA pavement
Pavement with deeper ruts
may continue to densify
should be levelled and
under traffic loads.
overlaid.
Subgrade rutting (e.g.,
as a result of inadequate
pavement structure)
Improper mix design or
manufacture
(e.g.,
excessively high asphalt
content,
excessive
Measured in
square feet or
square meters of
surface area
mineral filler, insufficient
amount
of
angular
aggregate particles)
Corrugatio
n and
shoving
A form of plastic
movement
typified by ripples
(corrugation) or
Usually caused by traffic action
(starting and stopping)
combined with:
An unstable (i.e. low
an abrupt wave
stiffness) HMA layer caused by
(shoving) across
mix contamination, poor mix
the pavement
design, poor HMA
surface. The
manufacturing, and Excessive
distortion is
moisture in the subgrade
Small, localized areas of
corrugation or shoving.
Remove the distorted
pavement and patch.
Measured in
square feet or
square meters of
surface area
Large corrugated or
shoved areas indicative of
general HMA failure.
Remove the damaged
pavement and overlay.
perpendicular to
the traffic
direction.
Depression Localized
pavement surface
Frost heave or subgrade
Depressions should be repaired by
settlement resulting from
removing the affected pavement
Measured in
square feet or
areas with slightly
inadequate compaction during
then digging out and replacing the
square meters of
lower elevations
construction
area of poor subgrade
surface area
than the
surrounding
pavement.
Swell
Upward bulge of
pavement surface
Caused by frost action in the
Measured in
subgrade or by swelling soils,
square feet or
but a swell can also occur on
square meters of
the surface of asphalt overlay on
surface area
concrete pavement as a result
of blow up in the concrete slab
3
Surface
Defects
Water
Bleeding
and
Pumping
Water bleeding
Porous pavement due to
occurs when
inadequate
compaction
water seeps out
during
of joints or cracks
poor mix design
construction
or through an
High water table
excessively
Poor drainage
or
If the problem is a high water
table or poor drainage,
counting the no of
subgrade drainage should be
cracks that exist
improved.
If the problem is a porous mix
a fog slurry seal or slurry seal
porous HMA
is applied to limit water
layer.
infiltration.
Pumping occurs
Measured by
when water and
fine material is
ejected from
underlying layers
through cracks in
the HMA layer
under moving
loads.
Stripping
The loss of bond
between
aggregates and
asphalt binder
that typically
begins at the
bottom of the
HMA layer and
progresses
upward
Poor aggregate surface
chemistry
Water in the HMA
causing moisture
damage
Overlays over an
existing open-graded
surface course.
The stripped pavement needs to be
Measured as
removed and replaced after
percentage
correction of any subsurface
effected area
drainage issues.
Ravelling
Small, localized areas of
The progressive
Loss of bond between
disintegration of
aggregate particles and the
ravelling. Remove the
an HMA layer
asphalt binder as a result of:
ravelled pavement and patch. effected area
from the surface
A dust coating on the
Large ravelled areas
downward as a
aggregate particles that
indicative of general HMA
result of the
forces the asphalt binder
failure. Remove the
dislodgement of
to bond with the dust
pavement
aggregate
rather than the
particles.
aggregate
Aggregate Segregation:
If fine particles are
missing from the
aggregate matrix, then
the asphalt binder is only
able to bind the
remaining coarse
particles at their
relatively few contact
points.
Inadequate compaction
during construction. High
density is required to
develop sufficient
Measured as
percentage
cohesion within the
HMA.
Inadequate compaction
caused by cold weather
paving.
Mechanical dislodging by
certain types of traffic
(studded tires,
snowplough blades or
tracked vehicles).
Potholes
Small, bowl-
Generally, potholes are the end
In accordance with patching
Counting the
shaped
result of alligator cracking. As
techniques.
number that exist
depressions in
alligator cracking becomes
the pavement
severe, the interconnected
surface that
cracks create small chunks of
penetrate all the
pavement, which can be
way through the
dislodged as vehicles drive over
HMA layer down
them. The remaining hole after
to the base
the pavement chunk is
course
Polished
aggregates
Areas of PCC
pavement where
the portion of
aggregate on the
surface contains
aggregate
particles
dislodged is called a pothole.
Repeated traffic
Diamond grinding or overlay
Measured as
square meters
applications. Generally,
as a pavement ages the
protruding rough,
angular particles become
polished.
This can occur quicker if
the aggregate is
susceptible to abrasion
or subject to excessive
studded tire wear.
Patching
An area of
pavement that
has been
replaced with new
material to repair
Patches are themselves a repair
Measured as no or
pavement deterioration
action. The only way they can be
square meters
that has been removed
removed is through an overlay or
and patched
slab replacement
Previous localized
Utility cuts
the existing
pavement. A
patch is
considered a
defect no matter
how well it
performs
Bleeding
Excessive asphalt binder
Minor bleeding can often be
A film of asphalt
in the HMA (either due to
corrected by applying coarse
binder on the
mix design or
sand to blot up the excess
pavement
manufacturing)
asphalt binder.
surface. It usually
Excessive application of
Major bleeding can be
creates a shiny,
asphalt binder during
corrected by cutting off
glass-like
BST application
excess asphalt with a motor
reflecting that can
Low HMA air void
grader or removing it with a
become quite
content (e.g., not enough
heater planer. If the resulting
sticky.
room for the asphalt to
surface is excessively rough,
expand into during hot
resurfacing may be
weather)
necessary
Measured as
square meters
Lane/
Shoulder
Drop off
Difference in
Heave of the shoulder may be
Measured every
elevation
caused by frost action or
100 ft in inches or
between traffic
swelling soil
millimetres along
lane and shoulder
Drop off of granular or soil
the pavement
shoulder is generally caused by
edges
blowing away of shoulder
material by passing truck