Pothole Repair & Asphalt Patching in BC

Potholes don't appear overnight. They begin as small cracks in the asphalt surface — often caused by age, UV oxidation, or heavy traffic loads. Once a crack opens, water enters the pavement structure. In BC's Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, this is where the real damage begins.

BC's freeze-thaw cycles are particularly destructive. Water that has infiltrated the base material freezes and expands, forcing the pavement upward. When it thaws, the pavement settles back — but not perfectly. Each cycle weakens the base further. Over time, the subgrade becomes saturated and loses its load-bearing capacity. When a vehicle passes over the weakened area, the surface collapses — that's your pothole.

The critical distinction is between surface patching and full-depth patching. Surface patching simply fills the hole with cold-patch material — it's a temporary fix that doesn't address the failed base. Cold-patch doesn't bond properly to the surrounding asphalt and typically fails within one season, often within weeks in wet conditions.

Full-depth patching is the permanent solution. It involves square-cutting around the failed area to clean edges, removing all failed asphalt and compromised base material down to stable ground, installing and compacting a new granular base, and then applying hot-mix asphalt in lifts and compacting it flush with the surrounding surface. Done correctly, a full-depth patch is as strong as the original pavement.

It's also important to recognise when a pothole signals a larger problem. A single pothole in an otherwise sound pavement is a localised repair. But multiple potholes in a concentrated area, or potholes that keep returning after patching, often indicate widespread base failure — a sign that resurfacing or full reconstruction may be more cost-effective than continued patching.