EXPERT ADVICE
Crack Filling and Crack Sealing
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or into working cracks using unique configurations to pre-
vent the intrusion of water and other incompressibles into the
pavement cracks. Working refers to horizontal and/or vertical
crack movements greater than 0.1 in (2.5 mm). Transverse
cracks are a good example of working cracks; however, some
longitudinal cracks may also meet the movement criterion.
Crack sealants are rubberized products that have the ability
to seal the crack and flex with the pavement’s movement.
They are used for active cracks that continue to extend both
in size and severity with time and the ravages of the traffic and
weather. Crack sealants have excellent adhesive and cohesive
properties. In other words they firmly adhere to the walls of
the cracks and do not tear or split when the cracks widen.
Again their primary function is to stop the intrusion of water,
salts and debris from entering the pavement sub-base and base
courses.
Crack filling is the placement of materials into non-working
cracks to substantially reduce the infiltration of water and to
reinforce the adjacent pavement. Non-working refers to hor-
izontal and/or vertical movements less than 0.1 in (2.5 mm).
Non-working cracks typically include mostly longitudinal, di-
agonal cracks and some block cracks. Such cracks do not move
much due to the close spacing between the edges.
Since there is minimal flexibility expected, the materials used
for crack filling are non-rubberized products, e.g. crumb rub-
ber, AC-3, and asphalt emulsion. Crack filling is therefore
simply filling the cracks that do not show significant move-
ment.
It is easy to conclude that the requirements for crack sealing
are more stringent both from material and equipment consid-
erations than crack filling.
To crack seal or crack fill? How to decide
Generally, transverse cracks are the first ones to appear in
a pavement. Several different types of cracks may appear
during the same period. Under such conditions, one material
meeting the most demanding type crack may be appropriate.
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