Identify & Solve Drainage Issues

Water is by far the worst enemy of asphalt pavement and its substructure. If water is allowed to penetrate through the asphalt, it tends to saturate the aggregate base structure and reduce its overall load-bearing capability. As a result, the asphalt must bear more of the stress of the load and will result in premature failure. It is imperative to eliminate any water issue as soon as possible to ensure that your pavement lasts as long as possible.

Water issues fall into two main categories. These are:

Subsurface water saturation

This type of water issue is typically the hardest to detect. It can consist of pavement that was constructed in areas of a high water table, or in a low lying area that absorbs the drainage from other areas residing at higher elevations. Leaking irrigation is a common culprit of saturating the subgrade adjacent to pavement structures.

Detecting this issue and repairing it early on will save thousands of dollars in repairs down the road. Typically, this issue presents water bleeding up through cracks in the asphalt or saturated subgrade adjacent to the pavement structure. These areas usually stay wet even when there has not been any rain in many days.

Subsurface water saturation can typically be solved by installing subsurface French drainage to draw the subsurface water into a subsurface drain and route it down grade from the pavement. Additionally, complete base reconstruction with subgrade stabilization techniques can be employed in order to significantly increase the load-bearing capability of saturated sub-grade.

Surface drainage

Surface drainage should always be checked to make sure that all surface water can easily flow over and away from the pavement. Identify any area where water stands after a rain and target it for repair. Eventually standing water will penetrate the pavement structure and result in failure.