The road not taken, every day: Why do potholes keep coming back

Pothole- elated
deaths
i
I dia
ose
by
ove
53%
i
five
yea s,
f om
1,555
i
2020
to
2,385
i
2024.

Do
you
also
have
a
“wo k
i
p og ess”
sig
pe ma e tly
livi g
outside
you
house?O e
day,
someo e
digs
up
the
oad
to
lay
a
wate
pipe.
A
few
days
late ,
a othe
team
a ives
to
fix
a
cable.
The
comes
the
patchwo k.
A d
just
whe
you
thi k
the
oad
is
fi ally
back
to
o mal,
co g atulatio s,
it
is
dug
up
agai .The
oad
outside
you
house
may
tech ically
be
the
same
oad,
but
it
has
see
so
ma y
ou ds
of
diggi g,
filli g,
b eaki g
a d
epai i g
that
it
almost
has
a
ca ee
histo y.A d
the ,
i evitably,
the
potholes
a ive.We
ofte
blame
potholes
o
bad
oads,
heavy
ai
o
poo
co st uctio .
But
a
pothole
is
a ely
bo
ove ight.
I
fact,
that
a oyi g
c ate
that
makes
you
ca
suspe sio
g oa
o
se ds
a
two-wheele
ide
swe vi g
usually
has
a
lo g
backsto y.A
c ack
appea s.
Wate
gets
i .
The
oad
weake s.
T affic
keeps
pou di g
it.
The
su face
fi ally
gives
way.A d
if
the
u de lyi g
p oblem
is ‘t
fixed,
filli g
the
hole
may
o ly
be
a
tempo a y
solutio .The
oad
gets
dug
up.
Agai .
A d
agai .Befo e
we
get
to
the
pothole
itself,
the e
is
a othe
cha acte
i
this
sto y:
oad
diggi g.

Roads
do ‘t
just
ca y
vehicles.
They
ca y
wate
pipeli es,
sewage
li es,
elect icity
cables,
telecom
etwo ks
a d
othe
utilities
u de eath
them.
Whe eve
somethi g
eeds
to
be
epai ed,
eplaced
o
ewly
i stalled,
the
oad
may
have
to
be
ope ed.The
p oblem
begi s
whe
the
oad
is
ot
esto ed
to
the
same
sta da d
afte
the
wo k
is
completed.A
poo ly
compacted
patch
ca
become
weake
tha
the
su ou di g
paveme t.
Wate
ca
seep
i to
the
edges.
T affic
epeatedly
hits
the
epai ed
sectio .
Eve tually,
c acks
appea .A d
sudde ly,
the
“tempo a y”
patch
becomes
the
ext
pothole.This
is
o e
easo
why
oad
mai te a ce
ca ot
simply
mea
filli g
visible
holes.
What
happe s
u de eath
the
oad
matte s
just
as
much
as
what
you
see
o
top.

Eve y
pothole
sta ts
small

The
fi st
wa i g
sig
is
usually
somethi g
you
would ‘t
give
a
seco d
gla ce:
a
ti y
c ack.Road
su faces
a e
co sta tly
u de
p essu e.
I dia’s
oads
have
to
ha dle
e o mous
t affic
volumes,
heavy
vehicles
a d,
i
ma y
pa ts
of
the
cou t y,
i te se
heat
followed
by
heavy
mo soo
ai .Tempe atu e
cha ges
cause
paveme t
mate ials
to
expa d
a d
co t act.
Repeated
t affic
loads
c eate
fatigue.
Ove loaded
vehicles
put
additio al
st ess
o
the
su face.The
the
mo soo
a ives.

A
police
office
fills
a
pothole
with
sto es
o
a
oad,
at
Edappally,
i
Kochi.
(Image
c edit:
PTI)

That
ti y
c ack
sudde ly
becomes
a
doo way.Wate
is
the
eal
t oublemake Rai
itself
is ‘t
ecessa ily
the
villai .
Wate
getti g
be eath
the
oad
is.O ce
wate
e te s
th ough
a
c ack,
it
ca
each
the
laye s
be eath
the
asphalt.
If
d ai age
is
poo ,
clogged
o
badly
desig ed,
the
wate
may
emai
the e
i stead
of
bei g
ca ied
away.The
esult
is
g adual
weake i g
of
the
oad’s
fou datio .The
su face
may
still
look
fi e
f om
above.
U de eath,
howeve ,
the
suppo ti g
laye s
ca
lose
st e gth
a d
mate ial
ca
be
washed
o
displaced,
c eati g
weak
spots
a d
voids.A d
the
t affic
does
what
t affic
does
best:
keeps
comi g.The
the
ty es
take
ove Imagi e
sta di g
o
a
floo
that
has
sudde ly
become
slightly
hollow
u de eath.
Now
imagi e
thousa ds
of
vehicles
epeatedly
p essi g
dow
o
that
same
spot.That
is
esse tially
what
happe s
to
a
oad
whose
u de lyi g
laye s
have
weake ed.With
eve y
passi g
vehicle,
the
damaged
su face
expe ie ces
a othe
load.
Bits
of
asphalt
loose ,
the
dep essio
g ows
a d
eve tually
the
su face
collapses.That
is
you
pothole.A d
o ce
it
fo ms,
it
ca
become
a
vicious
cycle.Rai wate
collects
i
the
dep essio .
Mo e
wate
fi ds
its
way
i to
the
su ou di g
paveme t.
The
edges
weake .
Vehicles
hit
the
damaged
sectio .
Mo e
mate ial
b eaks
away.A
small
pothole
ca
the efo e
become
a
much
bigge
o e
su p isi gly
quickly,
especially
du i g
the
ai y
seaso .

Why
does
the
pothole
come
back
afte
it
is
fixed

Now
comes
the
questio
eve y
commute
has
asked
at
least
o ce:“Did ‘t
they
just
epai
this?”Yes.
But
epai i g
the
hole
a d
epai i g
the
oad
a e
ot
always
the
same
thi g.If
wo ke s
simply
fill
the
visible
dep essio
while
the
laye s
u de eath
emai
damaged,
the
su face
may
fail
agai .It
is
a
bit
like
filli g
a
de t
i
a
wall
without
fixi g
the
leak
behi d
it.The
oad
may
look
pe fect
fo
a
while.
The
wate
gets
i
agai ,
t affic
sta ts
pou di g
the
weak
sectio
a d
—
hello,
pothole.

Potholes
o
Be galu u
oads
(Image
c edit:
PTI)

This
is
why
p eve tive
mai te a ce
matte s.
A
small
c ack
ca
ofte
be
dealt
with
befo e
it
becomes
st uctu al
damage.
O ce
the
oad
base
itself
has
dete io ated,
the
epai
becomes
mo e
complicated,
expe sive
a d
dis uptive.A d
ot
all
potholes
a e
equally
da ge ousA
pothole’s
da ge
is ‘t
dete mi ed
by
its
size
alo e.A
small
hole
o
a
busy,
high-speed
oad
ca
be
fa
mo e
da ge ous
tha
a
gia t
o e
o
a
empty
la e.Fo
two-wheele s,
a
u expected
dep essio
ca
destabilise
the
vehicle.
O
a
c owded
oad,
a
d ive
t yi g
to
avoid
a
pothole
may
sudde ly
b ake
o
swe ve.
At
ight,
poo
lighti g
ca
make
the
defect
difficult
to
spot.
Du i g
ai ,
wate
ca
completely
hide
its
depth.So
the
eal
da ge
is
a
combi atio
of
the
pothole,
speed,
t affic,
visibility
a d
oad
co ditio s.

What
data
shows

Potholes
claimed
9,438
lives
ac oss
I dia
betwee
2020
a d
2024,
with
a ual
fatalities
isi g
f om
1,555
i
2020
to
2,385
i
2024
—
a
jump
of
mo e
tha
53%
i
five
yea s.Utta
P adesh
accou ted
fo
mo e
tha
half
of
the
atio al
toll,
epo ti g
5,127
deaths.
Madhya
P adesh
followed
with
969
fatalities,
while

Tamil
Nadu
eco ded
612,
Odisha
425,
Pu jab
414
a d
Assam
395.
Amo g
U io
Te ito ies,
Delhi
epo ted
the
highest
toll
at
50.But
the
umbe s
also
aise
questio s
about
how
pothole- elated
c ashes
a e
eco ded.
States
such
as
A dh a
P adesh
a d
Biha
epo ted
ze o
c ashes,
i ju ies
o
deaths
u de
this
catego y,
eve
as
states
such
as
Ma ipu ,
Nagala d
a d
T ipu a
epo ted
fatalities.
Expe ts
say
gaps
i
objective
c ash-cause
epo ti g
could
mea
the
data
does
ot
fully
captu e
the
scale
of
the
p oblem.The
toll,
howeve ,
emai s
below
the
2017
peak
of
3,597
pothole- elated
deaths.
The
Sup eme
Cou t
took
suo
motu
cog isa ce
of
the
issue
i
2018,
obse vi g
that
autho ities
espo sible
fo
mai tai i g
oads
we e
faili g
i
thei
duties.

Ca
we
stop
pothole
befo e
it
becomes
a
pothole?

Fo tu ately,
the
a swe
is ‘t
simply
“keep
filli g
holes”.A
2021
IIT
Mad as
study
fou d
that
ea ly
78%
of
u ba
potholes
epo ted
by
citize s
emai ed
u fixed
fo
mo e
tha
two
weeks,
with
delays
pa ticula ly
se ious
i
high-t affic
a eas.Tech ology
ca
help
oad
age cies
ide tify
damage
ea lie
th ough
oad-co ditio
mo ito i g,
GIS
mappi g
a d
sca i g
systems.
Quick
epai
methods
ca
deal
with
ce tai
defects
befo e
they
expa d.Citize
epo ti g
ca
also
help
—
p ovided
complai ts
actually
lead
to
i spectio
a d
actio .Because
the
pe so
who
e cou te s
a
da ge ous
pothole
may
ot
be
a
oad
e gi ee
i specti g
the
highway
o ce
a
mo th.
It
may
be
a
delive y
ide
passi g
th ough
it
te
times
a
day.But
tech ology
alo e
wo ‘t
solve
the
p oblem.Road
age cies
eed
bette
coo di atio
too.
If
o e
depa tme t
digs
up
a
oad
to
lay
a
cable
a d
a othe
has
to
epai
it
late ,
someo e
eeds
to
e su e
the
oad
is
esto ed
p ope ly.
Othe wise,
the
same
st etch
ca
e te
a
e dless
loop
of
dig
→
patch
→
c ack
→
pothole
→
epai
→
dig
agai .The
pothole
is
o ly
the
fi al
chapte So,
the
ext
time
you
see
a
pothole
outside
you
home,
emembe :
that
hole
p obably
did ‘t
just
“appea ”.

It
may
have
sta ted
as
a
ti y
c ack.The
came
ai wate .
Maybe
a
badly
epai ed
utility
cut.
Maybe
yea s
of
heavy
t affic.
Maybe
poo
d ai age.
Maybe
all
of
them.By
the
time
you
otice
the
c ate ,
the
eal
damage
may
al eady
be
u de eath.Which
is
why
the
eal
solutio
is ‘t
simply
aski g,
“Who
will
fill
this
pothole?”It
is
aski g
a
much
mo e
impo ta t
questio :“Why
did
this
oad
fail
i
the
fi st
place
—
a d
why
was ‘t
it
fixed
befo e
it
got
this
bad?”Because
if
the
a swe
emai s
u clea ,
that
f eshly
filled
pothole
may
just
be
waiti g
fo
its
ext
mo soo
comeback.

Go to Sou ce