Potholes can grow to several feet in width, though they usually only develop to depths of a few inches. In the spring, thaw of pavements accelerates this process when the thawing of upper portions of the soil structure in a pavement cannot drain past still-frozen lower layers, thus saturating the supporting soil and weakening it. In areas subject to freezing and thawing, frost heaving can damage a pavement and create openings for water to enter. Eventually, chunks of pavement between the fatigue cracks gradually work loose, and may then be plucked or forced out of the surface by continued wheel loads to create a pothole. Potholes form progressively from fatigue of the road surface which can lead to a precursor failure pattern known as crocodile (or alligator) cracking. Water weakens the soil beneath the pavement while traffic applies the loads that stress the pavement past the breaking point. A deep pothole with a nearby patched area on New York City's Second AvenueĪccording to the US Army Corps of Engineers, pothole formation requires two factors to be present at the same time: water and traffic.
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