Asphalt roads seem to stand the test of time; they are merely a part of the landscape. The same asphalt road might have been outside your home for as long as you can remember and long before that, and that could span multiple decades. Roads never seem to go bad, but they do. Asphalt cracks are the first sign of wear and tear. Why do roads crack?

Oxidation

Believe it or not, but the UV rays from sunlight cause the asphalt surface to become brittle and break down little by little over time. It is why newly paved blacktops turn a pale, crackly gray over time. When the surface breaks down, cracks can form.

Temperature Fluctuations

Asphalt pavements can experience thermal stress when temperatures fluctuate. When temperatures rise and fall, asphalt roads can expand and contract incrementally. As the pavement does this repeatedly, cracks can form on the surface as the asphalt breaks down.

Heavy Traffic

Asphalt roads are meant for transportation. Over time, they will naturally wear down because of the many loads of traffic they endure every day. Even rural roads will break down eventually after many vehicles have passed over them.

Moisture Damage

When even the tiniest asphalt cracks form, water can seep into those crevices and remain there. If the weather is cold, they can end up freezing, thawing, and repeating until it evaporates in warmer air. As the water goes through thefreeze-thaw cycle, it can cause existing asphalt cracks to expand.

Road Salt

Road salt is cheap and effective at keeping ice from sticking to roads and preventing accidents, but it can take a toll on asphalt roads as well. Road salt dehydrates anything moist, which means it can remove any moisture from the bitumen holding the gravel and aggregates together.

Installation & Maintenance

Asphalt cracks might also have to do with improper road installation or negligent maintenance. Asphalt roads must be able to hold up to the expected road traffic and any environmental risks, as well as keep up withroutine maintenance to prevent small cracks from becoming larger problems.

Receive Asphalt Paving Services with Tri-State Paving

Call Tri-State Paving. We’re a seasoned asphalt pavement company based in Maryland and have the experience and knowledge to help you with asphalt, concrete, and hardscaping projects.

We refuse to sell hot air to our customers, and that’s why we have been around for over four decades. We listen, inform, educate, and then decide what is best for our customers’ project and budget. If any problems arise during construction, we keep our customers updated and respond to make the imperfect perfect.

Our area numbers are:

West Chester: 610.563.9456

Oxford: 610.932.3566

Delaware: 302.757.4100

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Tags: asphalt cracks, asphalt repair, why do roads crack

This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2026 at 2:48 pm and is filed under Asphalt Paving. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.