Winter Pothole Treatments for Local Roads

One of the most common forms of pavement deterioration is potholes. Potholes generally form during the winter months due to freeze-thaw cycles. Common practices among local agencies to repair potholes include the following: throw-and-go (consisting of cleaning out the hole, shoveling material into the hole and relying on traffic for compaction) and throw-and-roll (consisting of cleaning out the hole, shoveling material into the hole and then running over the patch with the maintenance truck to compact the mix into the hole). In more urbanized areas that have larger budgets available for maintenance activities, some local agencies may have additional options for repairing potholes. In comparison to the methods listed above, these methods require additional equipment, materials, time and labor to perform. Regardless of the method used, patches can fail requiring roadcrews to repair the same location, sometimes multiple times. This can become costly for local public agencies in terms of both materials and availability of road crews. The failure could be due to utilizing an ineffective process for the site, inferior materials or improper execution. As new materials and methods become available, the opportunity to identify better solutions for the treatment of potholes increases. Due to difference in resources, budgets and access to materials by local public agencies, a variety of treatment options that are realistic, cost-effective and durable is needed. The goal of this research is to provide local transportation officials with various cost-effective pothole treatment options that extend the service life of the repair during the winter season. The objectives include the following: (1) Determine current best practices for winter pothole patching among local public agencies. (2) Provide information on newer materials and methods currently available for the repair of potholes. (3) Propose various solutions to pothole repairs that may include improvements to current processes. (4) Evaluate how proposed solutions compare to current practices. (5) Identify the top 8 process and/or materials for the most effective pothole patching on the local transportation system. Consideration should be given to overall life of the repair, cost, labor, time to do repair and any geographic constraints (e.g., weather, availability of materials, etc.).

• Record URL:
  http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/SPR/Research/reportsandplans/Lists/Final%20Reports%20All/AllItems.aspx?View={7D4D0273-6FC5-48A5-AD17-9CC3A7E83DA0}&FilterField1=State%5Fx0020%5FJob%5Fx0020%5F%5Fx0023%5F&FilterValue1=136178

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $147461
• Contract Numbers:

  34876

  136178

  112682

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Ohio Department of Transportation

  Research Program
  1980 West Broad Street
  Columbus, OH  United States  43223
• Project Managers:

  Fout, Vicky

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Cincinnati

  2600 Clifton Avenue
  Cincinnati, OH  United States  45221
• Principal Investigators:

  Nazzal, Munir

• Start Date: 20200921
• Expected Completion Date: 20220521
• Actual Completion Date: 20220521

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Cost effectiveness; Durability; Local transportation; Patching; Pavement maintenance; Potholes (Geology); Preservation; Roads; Service life; Transportation departments; Winter
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01747622
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Ohio Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 34876, 136178, 112682
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 5 2020 10:30AM