STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR THE

REPAIR OF POTHOLES USING THE

ROMIX POTFIX REPAIR SYSTEM

1. Background
Potholes in bituminous surfaces are normally caused by reflective cracks
forming in the base layer and wearing course of a road. Once a reflective
crack appears, and is not repaired timeously, water will enter the crack and
erosion of the edges of the crack will, with continuous hydraulic pressure from
rubber wheels, form and enlarge continuously if not repaired in time.

The main cause of the current pothole problem is lack of routine repair and
preventative maintenance. Potholes cause failure in the base layer of the
road, and if left untreated, large sections of the base layer will fail – leading to
expensive re-construction or rehabilitation of the road.

Traditional methods of pothole repair is time-consuming, cumbersome and

expensive:-
• A square cut around the affected area is made using a diamond saw
• The square is then excavated to a depth of +/- 100mm and the excavated
material dumped
• The inside and edges of the excavated area is “tacked” with bitumen
emulsion
• The entire hole is then filled with hot or cold premix and compacted
The traditional repair crew would typically consist of at least six workers and a
supervisor/driver. The equipment required would be the following:-
• 5 or 8 ton truck
• Diamond cutting machine
• Picks, shovels and rakes and brooms
• Pedestrian Bomag roller
2. The ROMIX POTFIX Pothole repair system

The ROMIX POTFIX system was specifically designed for :-

• Ease of use and simplicity in application
• Reduced preparation of the pothole before fixing
• No need for use of Hot Asphalt or Premix
• Cold application
• Minimal use of heavy equipment
• Speed of repair and reduction in road closure periods
• Fewer labourers needed for repair
The ROMIX POTFIX systems consists of two different Standard ROMIX
product components :-
• ROMIX SoilFix SRB-5 Polymer based Soil Stabilizer – Mixed with
ordinary soil with a Plasticity factor between 3 and 18, the failed base
layer of the pothole is re-constructed and stabilized
• ROMIX BTA Polymer enhanced Cold Asphalt mixture – Mixed with
crusher stone and unwashed crusher dust produces a workable cold
asphalt to be applied on top of the stabilized area of the pothole

3. The Potfix repair procedure

a. Pothole preparation
The pothole is now ready to be filled by re-stabilizing the base layer with ROMIX
SoilFix SRB-5 Soil Stabilizer, and then sealed with ROMIX BTA Cold asphalt.
b. Mixing SoilFix SRB-5 Soil Stabilizer
 c. Mixing the BTA Cold Asphalt
Take 25% crushed stone of between 9mm and 13mm maximum and pour into a
plastic 20 liter bucket. Fill the bucket with minus 6,5mm or minus 4,5mm
unwashed crusher dust. Empty the contents of the full bucket onto the road
surface adjacent to the recently stabilized pothole.

Take 4 liters BTA resin and mix slowly with shovels through the dry stone and
dust aggregate. Depending on the amount of moisture present in the aggregate,
one may not use the full amount of BTA. Mix until all the aggregate particles are
covered with BTA. Take care not to make the mix too wet, as it would not
compact properly and will take longer to dry. This is what the mixture should look
like when done.
duced at

Stone

ry

7days
 The two components of the ROMIX Potfix system can be separately mixed and
bagged in plastic bags at a batching plant. Materials and aggregate can be
stockpiled and large quantities mixed with concrete mixers. The mixed materials
can be placed on stockpiles covered with plastic sheets. The materials can then
be packed in 25 kilogram bags, sealed and stored for later use. Provided the
plastic bags are properly sealed, the shelf life of the products would be six
months. Pothole teams can simply collect the bags from a depot, together with
buckets of pre-mixed tack coat and be dispatched to site.

Prepared by Pieter J Prinsloo – Romix Industries

BUILDING BETTER ROADS

February 2012