Do Potholes Form in Winter or Summer?
Netbiz ✈️ |
Potholes are an extremely common form of road damage, affecting roads on every continent, all over the world. But although potholes are very common, they don’t form all year round.
Potholes normally form during the winter months, when the conditions are just right. This makes fresh potholes incredibly rare during the summer. To understand why you first have to understand why and how potholes form in the first place.
What Are Potholes?
As we’ve previously mentioned, potholes are normally formed when water seeps into cracks in a damaged road surface. Normally this water comes from rainwater; however, in areas with severe and repeated flooding, it’s not uncommon for potholes to form as a result of this water – particularly if the area doesn’t have adequate drainage.
During cold nights (when the temperature reaches near 0 degrees) this water freezes. Incredibly hard, this ice expands outwards. This expansion causes damage to the road surface, forcing the crack to form and grow. During the day, when temperatures increase, this ice melts, creating empty space beneath the crack. Under enough pressure, this crack and the road will collapse into empty space, thus creating a pothole.
As you can imagine, a pothole requires both water and a cold temperature to form. Without water or a similar liquid, there is nothing to freeze and force any cracks to expand. Likewise, without cold temperatures, any liquid which has been caught within any cracks can’t expand – meaning it will evaporate or rejoin the water table eventually.
How Do You Fix Potholes?
As you can see, the reason why potholes mostly form during the winter is that the weather and temperature need to be just right. In the summer, it’s just too hot and dry for potholes to form.
But how do you stop potholes from forming? How do you fix them?
With a product like BituChem’s, of course.
Pothole Repair From BituChem
BituChem offers a wide variety of road maintenance products. For example, our AirPatch product is an excellent solution for repairing potholes. FortSeal, meanwhile, offers high-quality road waterproofing and highway preservation at an affordable price and extends the overall life of the road.
Get in touch with BituChem today for more information about how our products can be used for road and highway repair.
