N

CATEGORY

CRACKING

DISTRESS
TYPE

DESCRIPTION

CAUSES

REMEDIES

Fatigue

Series of

1.Decrease in pavement load

1.Small, 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.
2.Large fatigue cracked areas
indicative of general structural

2.Increase in loading
3.Inadequate structural
design
4.Poor 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:

1.Low 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
2.High 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

1.Low 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.
2.High 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

1.Low 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

2.High 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
1.Low 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
2.High 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