Pavement distresses (cracks) occur as asphalt pavements age and traffic pounds them. If timely maintenance isn’t performed, distresses are compounded. Cracks become potholes and potholes become craters. The cost of addressing minor deficiencies is much less than addressing major deficiencies.
Crack sealing has two primary purposes:
To prevent the intrusion of water through the crack into the underlying pavement structure.
To prevent extraneous materials from entering the crack and causing further deterioration as the pavement expands and contracts with temperature changes.
The best time to do crack sealing is when an asphalt road or street is in fair to good condition. Along with proper drainage, crack sealing is probably the single most important maintenance activity. Most pavement distresses can be related to the intrusion of water into the pavement structure. If water is kept out of the pavement, the majority of distresses can be stopped or delayed.