As your pavement ages, the surface oxidizes and shrinkage cracks appear, this allows surface water to penetrate below the surface.  At this point, it is critical to install a virgin hot rubberized crack filler in the crack.  We use only 100% virgin hot rubberized crack filler.  This material will fill the cracks and stop water from reaching the base to reduce sub-base failure.  Being a northern state, we are all familiar with how tough winters are on pavement

In northern states, as you know, winters are very tough on pavement.  It is critical to keep surface water out of your base in these cold winter months.  The extreme freeze/thaw which we are forced to deal with is escalated when there is water saturation below the pavement.  This freezing causes expansion which in turn causes cracking in your pavement surface.

When filling open cracks, it is important that the crack are clean and dry.  When crack filling, it is recommended to strike the excess material off of the surface of the crack filling to help reduce the percentage of failure caused by snow plows in winter months.  If done properly and diligently, crack filling will reduce asphalt pavement expenses and extend the life of any parking lot.

ROUTING
Routing cracks adds significantly to the cost of crack filling, however can allow for crack filling to last up to 5 times longer.

When you route the crack you actually make it deeper and wider by cutting it to about ¾" wide by ¾" deep. This allows a larger amount of crack fill to seat into the crack which gives it more structure and bond with the pavement. Routing is a technique best used for high volume parking lots and trucking terminals.