Degradation and wear patterns of road surfaces
Distress and wear of flexible road pavements

In this section, the main modes of deterioration and wear of road surfaces will be described and illustrated by representative photos taken by the author of the article or taken, and used under authorization, from the Guide de mesure et d'identification des dégradations des chaussées souples (Guide to measuring and identifying deterioration in flexible pavements) published by the Ministère des Transports du Québec in Canada.

Pavement deterioration modes can be classified into three categories according to the nature of the deterioration.