Field and laboratory evaluation of winter season pavement pothole patching materials

This paper presents an experimental study in which field survey and laboratory tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of asphalt patching mixtures designed for winter season pothole repairs. Special laboratory procedures, including adhesiveness, cohesion, moisture susceptibility and loaded wheel tests, were investigated and modified to evaluate the bonding, freeze-thaw resistance and rutting potentials of the patching materials. The influence of different factors, including freeze condition, traffic level, speed limit, patch size and depth, on patching performance was analysed based on a statistical analysis of 6-month field survey. Effects of testing conditions were investigated for testing pothole patching materials with cohesion, freeze-thaw and loaded wheel tests. It was found that testing temperatures, laboratory sample compaction efforts as well as wheel loading in loaded wheel test significantly affected the testing results of pothole patching materials. Proper modifications were recommended to improve the effectiveness of the laboratory tests.