TL;DR
Base failure is the structural collapse of the aggregate or subgrade layers beneath asphalt pavement, revealed at the surface as alligator cracking, deep ruts, potholes, or sections that pump and flex underfoot. Water is almost always the culprit, softening the subgrade through poor drainage, cracks, or a high water table until traffic loads exceed what the saturated layers can carry.
What it means
Base failure is the structural collapse of the aggregate or subgrade layers beneath asphalt pavement, revealed at the surface as alligator cracking, deep ruts, potholes, or sections that pump and flex underfoot. Water is almost always the culprit, softening the subgrade through poor drainage, cracks, or a high water table until traffic loads exceed what the saturated layers can carry. No surface treatment fixes it: the remedy is full-depth removal, drainage correction, rebuilding the base with compacted stone, and new asphalt. Estimates distinguish these dig-out areas from surface-only work because they cost several times more per square foot.
Where it sits in the glossary
Base failure is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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