MAINTENANCE
Cracksealing is the First Line of Defense from Rapidly Changing Weather
BY MIKE LEWIS
Asphalt pavement is one of the most significant capital investments for any municipality, commercial property, homeowner’ s association and, yes- apartment community.
While fresh asphalt is engineered to be durable and load-bearing, it has a formidable enemy: water. Once water penetrates the surface layer, it begins to erode the subgrade base layers, leading to alligator cracking, potholes, and catastrophic foundation failure. The single most effective maintenance procedure to prevent this degradation and extend the service life of pavement is cracksealing. By effectively sealing the surface, property owners can prevent water intrusion, maintain the structural integrity of the asphalt, and delay expensive reconstruction projects by years.
For communities located on the east side of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, the necessity of cracksealing is amplified by unique geological factors. This region is heavily populated with Bentonite, a highly expansive clay soil. Bentonite is notorious for its volume volatility; it swells significantly when wet and shrinks drastically when dry.
This constant heaving and settling creates a " moving target " beneath the asphalt. As the Bentonite shifts, it exerts tremendous upward and downward pressure on the pavement, causing it to crack more frequently and aggressively than in other parts of the country. Without a watertight seal on the surface, rain and snowmelt reach this expansive clay, accelerating the heaving cycle and tearing the pavement apart from the bottom up.
When dealing with the aftermath of these soil shifts, not all cracks can be treated equally.
While standard rubberized sealant is perfect for hairline to medium fractures, pavement managers must sometimes consider Mastic Crackseal for larger, deeper distresses. Mastic is a hot-applied mixture of polymer-modified asphalt and engineered aggregates that acts as a bridge for wide voids— typically those exceeding three-quarters of an inch.
However, Mastic should be utilized strategically. It is a premium product designed to repair distresses that are too large for standard sealant but do not yet warrant full-depth patching. It is most viable when it makes economical sense; utilizing Mastic to squeeze a few more years out of a deteriorating lot is a cost-effective alternative to cutting and replacing, provided the surrounding pavement is still structurally sound.
To maximize the effectiveness of these treatments, timing is everything. The industry standard recommends cracksealing during the spring and fall months. During these transitional seasons, the ambient temperatures cause the asphalt to cool and contract, leaving cracks at their widest point.
Sealing them during this window ensures that the sealant fills the maximum volume of the void, creating a bond that won ' t snap when the ground shifts. Given Colorado’ s heavy freezethaw cycles— where water enters a crack, freezes, and expands by 9 %— a reactive approach is often insufficient. In areas with highly expansive Bentonite soils, it is highly recommended to perform cracksealing yearly.
A proactive annual maintenance program stays ahead of the freezethaw damage, keeping water out of the subgrade and ensuring the pavement achieves its full design lifespan.
Mike Lewis is the Owner / CEO of Concrete & Asphalt 4 Colorado. www. aamdhq. org TRENDS APRIL 2026 | 21