Pothole Repairs - Black Tar

Before companies such as Black tar started to use infrared technology for pothole repairs, a method known as ‘cut and patch’ was used, and essentially, it was as the name suggests.

The damaged piece of asphalt was cut out of the surface and replaced by the new asphalt. While it worked okay as a short-term fix, in the long term, it was less than effective. For starters, the newer patches were obvious, which is never a good look. However, more important than the aesthetics of it was the fact that moisture could get in between the joints of the old and the new surfaces. When water freezes and thaws out, it warps the cracks even further, and when this happens continuously, it is not going to be long before it needs repairing. It may cost less in the short term, but in the long term, the old way of cutting and patching up the asphalt costs more in time and money.

Not only that, but in terms of sustainability, constant ineffective repairs are less than ideal. It uses more manpower, can be much riskier as more of the repair is done manually, often in the middle of a busy road. It involves multiple road closures or redirections, which causes frustration for motorists and is not going to be helpful towards reducing carbon emissions and noise pollution. 

When you look at the myriad of advantages that infrared technology has over the cut and patch technique, it is easy to see why we have adopted it here at Black Tar.