Where does the asphalt go when a pothole forms?
In: Engineering
It’s much like a hole in dirt or similar! Pieces might get carried elsewhere, or depressed into the pothole enough times that parts of the asphalt have broken into dust.
The chunks get crushed down a bit smaller, some of the bits pop out of the pothole and car tires either crush it down and push it to the side of the road. It basically turns into small gravel/dirt/sand at the side of the road.
Potholes form when small cracks in the pavement allow water to get in. Then over time water erosion washes away material, causing a void to form under the pavement. The pavement will then sink into said void. This sinking will cause more cracks to form which will let the sunken portion start to break apart and at that point it can break down small enough to wash away or even blow away, can be knocked aside by moving vehicles, etc. Freezing cycles can make this happen faster as the ice will make the cracks larger.
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