Crocks or Gators in Your Parking Lot!? Alligator Cracking Repairs are Urgent!

Can you tell the difference between alligators and crocodiles in your parking lot? Don’t worry, you don’t really have to—but you do need to take quick action if you see them! Alligator cracking or crocodile cracking in asphalt is a serious sign of impending asphalt failure and needs to be repaired as soon as possible. The reason this type of asphalt damage has such a reptilian description is that these stress cracks form a pattern that mimics crocodile or alligator scales. Whether you see alligator cracking or crocodile cracking in your asphalt, it needs to be repaired before it gets worse.

This type of crocodile/alligator asphalt damage is usually the result of:

• Weak and failing sub-base under the asphalt
• Poor drainage
• Chronic weight overloading in the same spots
• An intense freeze-thaw cycle in the spring

It is important, if you do find an alligator in your parking lot, for us to figure out the reason behind this type of asphalt damage so that the alligator cracking repair process can include the mitigation of those problems. For example:

• If this is a spot that frequently has heavy equipment parked or driving over it, then this will need to be taken into account. Heavy equipment should not be parked too close to the border of a paved area, nor should heavy equipment be parked in the same place for too long, or over asphalt paved areas that have not been designed to withstand that type of load.
• If poor drainage is the problem, the excess moisture can weaken the sub-base beneath the asphalt. This excess moisture can also cause extra seasonal problems that lead to alligator cracks in asphalt. When this moisture freezes in the winter, it expands and causes frost spurs. Periods of melting and refreezing expand and contract the asphalt, weakening and cracking it. This is why potholes seem to appear more frequently in the spring.

If you see alligator cracking in asphalt paved areas under your responsibility, prompt attention is absolutely necessary to saving money, time and hassle. When it comes to crocodile cracking repairs in asphalt, time really is money, but it is also safety and responsibility. Continuing to allow weather and traffic on these spots will inevitably lead to dreaded potholes that can damage cars and endanger the pedestrians who are your customers, patients, students, residents, congregants, etc. So act now, before someone gets hurt!

Espina Paving will come out and evaluate the extent of the damage and provide you a detailed description of why it has happened and present you a plan that relieves the stresses that caused the alligator cracking in your asphalt in the first place. We will also provide you an alligator asphalt repair plan and describe ways that you can prevent premature asphalt damage in the future.

For crocodile crack asphalt repairs—or alligator crack asphalt repairs, contact Espina Paving at (703) 491-9100 so we can make your pavement as smooth as a salamander again.