UW team working on self-healing asphalt to address potholes
Posted Jun 17, 2026 07:42:14 AM.
Last Updated Jun 17, 2026 11:38:16 AM.
Waterloo Region roads are still recovering from a long and cold winter, with plenty of areas where potholes need to be avoided.
A team at the University of Waterloo (UW) are working on the recipe for the perfect road and improving the way the municipality repairs potholes, and also the way it anticipates roadwork.
Hassan Baaj, the director of the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology, said for the last 10 years, the institute has been leading research on “self-healing asphalt,” looking at ways to reduce the amount of cracks on the roadways.
“We cannot eliminate cracking; it’s a natural process that happens in asphalt, concrete, in different materials. We’re trying to mitigate it, we’re trying to control it,” said Baaj.
Baaj added that self-healing asphalt is not something that can be implemented tomorrow, but that plenty of engineering and testing are required before it can be implemented in a practical way.
