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Which Distortion Issues Should You Keep in Mind?

Although you’ve worked with paving contractors near me to fix various types of pavement cracks, you’ve never heard the term “pavement distortion.” That lack of knowledge is understandable, as many people don’t fully understand what this term means and why it is such a problem for their driveway. Though not as severe as cracks, distortion can cause some issues that need to be addressed.

Therefore, you need to fully understand the nature of pavement distortions and the various classifications and issues that can occur on your pavement. By understanding these problems and how they develop, you can know when to contact contractors who can handle the problem for you in a safe, simple, and effective manner.

Distortion vs. Cracking

Most types of paving contractors near me will talk to you about cracks in your pavement, as these are the most common issues you’re likely to experience. However, issues caused by a distortion of your pavement are another problem that may occur and cause minor to severe issues. This distortion is typically caused by more severe damage than cracking and generally is more challenging to fix.

For example, some types of distortions are caused by poor asphalt mixes, which includes unstable mixtures with a weak collection of various types of mixing materials. Even worse, subgrade and subbase weakness typically lead to other kinds of distortion. These affect not only the appearance of your pavement but can also cause it to become less stable and less supportive of vehicles on your asphalt.

Just a few of these distortions include rutting, shoving, depressions, swelling, and patch failures. Understanding these issues can help you better grasp why your pavement is starting to look strange or unattractive Just as importantly, it can provide any paving contractors near me with the help that they need to create a more solid and reliable slab of pavement for your parking lot or driveway.

Issues with Rutting

Rutting typically occurs on the wheel path of your pavement and triggers when the subgrade or pavement layers beneath your wheels start to deform or consolidate beneath your tires. Essentially, this issue causes wheel paths to occur on your pavement and can be quite ugly when it happens. Even worse, it can cause some problems with cars that drive over this damaged surface.

For example, ruts create an irregular driving surface that makes your parking lot look cheap or poorly maintained, and those jumps caused by the depression may cause damage to a vehicle or even cause problems with a car’s tires. Though a blowout isn’t likely to happen, damage to your customers’ shocks may occur, which could lead to lawsuits and other concerns.

Issues with Shoving

This problem can be a widespread one that triggers a multitude of problems with your pavement. Simply put, shoving creates a series of ripples across the surface of your pavement that creates a wave-like or washboard appearance. Typically, this type of damage occurs at intersections or any areas of your pavement that undergo severe horizontal stress during a typical driving day.

Most issues with shoving occur due to problems with the asphalt rather than any other weather- or temperature-related issues. For example, pouring excess asphalt into a frame can cause the extra material to bulge up and create these ridges. You can also trigger this problem by using fine aggregate or rounded aggregate to produce a soft asphalt with a weak granular base.

Issues with Depressions

Have you ever seen spots on your pavement that look like birdbaths? Paving contractors near me call these depressions, and they’re somewhat similar to potholes because the same causes often trigger them. For example, a failure in lower pavement layers or weak construction techniques can cause these small cavities to appear on your asphalt surface.

Typically, depressions occur when the pavement is damaged enough to cause a minor depression but not severe enough to cause a pothole. However, these depressions can be an issue because they create a bumpy driving surface, look unattractive, and may lead to other types of pavement damage. You can’t tolerate or ignore these issues on your driveway or parking lot, even if they seem minor.

Issues with Swelling

This problem – also sometimes called upheaval – occurs as an upward movement in a specific spot of your pavement. Typically, this happens when temperature changes cause weaker sports of your pavement to bulge outwards. For example, freezing weather may cause the water in your pavement to expand and lead to swelling. Typically, this occurs if your pavement mix was more watery than it should have been.

Swelling triggers many of the same kind of concerns common with depressions. For example, they look unattractive and cause a bumpy driving surface that may trigger some types of damage to vehicles. Swelling is a little harder to manage than depressions, though, because they cannot be filled in – like depressions – but must be smoothed out using a variety of treatment and repair methods.

Issues with Patches

Patches on your driveway or parking lot help to cover up damage that would otherwise get worse or look unattractive. When applied correctly, good patches can last for years. However, poorly-applied patches or older ones can start wearing down and distort your driveway.

Patch failures can become a significant issue if you try to fix your driveway or parking lot without the help of professionals. High-quality paving contractors near me can do these fixes for you and keep your parking lot looking great. So just because you can apply a patch doesn’t mean that you should.

We Can Help Protect Your Pavement from These Issues

These distortion issues shouldn’t be fixed with amateur repairs or you run the risk of severe problems with your driveway or parking lot. For example, trying to fix the type of subgrade issue that leads to depression could cause worse conditions if you decide to fix it on your own.

Instead, you should contact us at Elite Paving & Sealcoating to learn more about the benefits of professional repair help in Mahomet, IL and the Central Illinois area. Our experts will come to your property and provide you with the support that you need. We are paving contractors near me that you can trust to do the job right the first time that we visit.

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