Infrared patching is a means of permanently repairing asphalt. It is ideal for:

Potholes

Birdbaths / poor drainage

Utility cuts

Sunken asphalt (at garage floors or curbs)

Why is Infrared better than "traditional" patching?

An infrared repair is not a "patch" at all because it seamlessly bonds the repaired area to the surrounding asphalt. To understand why this is better lets take a look at two traditional patches:

The picture above is the seam of a patch that was done using the traditional "sawcut, remove and replace" method. The area to the right is the existing asphalt, while the area on the left is the new patch. You can see that between the 2 areas is a very noticeable seam. There is nothing holding the 2 "pieces" of asphalt together. There is also plenty of room for dirt and water to penetrate to the base and cause further pavement failure.		This is a typical roadway pothole filled with cold patch. There are many problems with this type of repair: 1. The pothole is rarely cleaned to allow for good adhesion. 2. The cold patch is rarely compacted, but is instead thrown in the hole with the hopes that traffic will compact the material. Even if the patch does stay in place, the result is usually a hump in the roadway instead of a hole. 3. Water can still penetrate the surface and allow for more freeze-thaw cycles, leading to future failure.

A seamless reair is possible using the Infrared process because an area beyond what is to be repaired is also heated which means that the liquid asphalt (or asphaltic cement) that holds the rocks together is now workable again (Think hot glue gun, when heated to a high enough temperature the glue, or liquid asphalt in this case becomes workable. When allowed to cool it binds what it is touching together). When the reapir is compacted the new asphalt is pressed into the existing asphalt and literally glued together. Notice in the picture below that there is no seam where water can penetrate.

View the Infrared Repair Process

What Won't Infrared Patching Do?

Infrared patching's one limitation is that it will not fix a base problem. If an area of asphalt is deteriorating due to a weakened or insufficient base (the gravel underneath the asphalt) we can't fix it with Infrared alone. The asphalt on top can be fixed, but the problem will likely return in the future if the root of the problem (the base in some cases) is not addressed. If you are concerned about what is causing a pavement problem, we'd be happy to look at it and let you know if Infrared would be an appropriate solution.