8 Alligator cracking is caused by issues with the soil under the pavement section in areas subject to traffic loading, including: • Areas of soft, localized, saturated, fine-grained subgrade soil, possibly made worse by inadequate drainage. • The pavement section may not be thick enough to support traffic loads on the native subgrade soil. • Water seeping into cracks in the pavement, further weakening the subgrade and accelerating cracking. To prevent alligator cracking, you can: • Follow design and construction best practices. • Prevent the puddling of water on asphalt or at the edge of asphalt. • Fill cracks when they appear before they grow and let water more get under the asphalt. • Maintain a surface treatment on the asphalt to resist cracking and prevent the intrusion of water under the asphalt. Tips on responding to alligator cracking: • Sealing cracks soon after they appear may slow the progress of alligator cracking. • Since the cause is the combination of fine-grained soils and saturation of it is the cause of the problem, either the soil needs to be replaced or the source of water has to be eliminated to resolve the problem. If the source of water is not from the surface, no surface treatment will be a permanent solution. ALLIGATOR OR FATIGUE CRACKING Alligator cracking is a type of asphalt pavement damage that occurs when a series of cracks form a pattern that resembles an alligator’s skin. It’s also known as fatigue cracking.
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