Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'How to get rid of potholes' that was published in Newsband

How to get rid of potholes

Contractors and civic agencies must be held accountable for bad roads and potholes. Come Monsoon and roads across India become pothole-ridden death traps.  There are many roads across the country the quality of construction of which are so inferior that often once it rains it’s hard to tell the difference between the road and a drain. Monsoons and the accompanying water-logging is an annual feature. Rather than preparing in advance by clearing drainage lines and repairing roads wherever required, authorities spring into action once the rains have wreaked havoc.

This must change, and change now. The suggestion in the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 that contractors and civic agencies must be held accountable for bad roads and potholes is encouraging.

What exactly is a pothole? A pothole is a structural failure in a road surface, caused by failure primarily in asphalt pavement due to the presence of water in the underlying soil structure and the presence of traffic passing over the affected area. Introduction of water to the underlying soil structure first weakens the supporting soil. Traffic then fatigues and breaks the poorly supported asphalt surface in the affected area. Continued traffic action ejects both asphalt and the underlying soil material to create a hole in the pavement.

Potholes may result from four main causes: 1. Insufficient pavement thickness to support traffic during freeze/thaw periods without localized failures 2. Insufficient drainage 3. Failures at utility trenches and castings (manhole and drain casings) 4. Pavement defects and cracks left unmaintained and unsealed so as to admit moisture and compromise the structural integrity of the pavement.

The following are the steps to avoid pothole formation in existing pavements: 1. Surveying of pavements for risk factors 2. Providing adequate drainage structures 3. Preventative maintenance 4. Utility cut management

Pothole patching methods may be either temporary or semi-permanent. Temporary patching is reserved for weather conditions that are not favorable to a more permanent solution and usually uses a cold mix asphalt patching compound placed in an expedient manner to temporarily restore pavement smoothness. Semi-permanent patching uses more care in reconstructing the perimeter of the failed area to blend with the surrounding pavement and usually employs a hot-mix asphalt fill above replacement of appropriate base materials. Best practices includes several repair techniques; throw-and-roll, semi-permanent, spray injection, and edge seal.