Alligator Cracking Repair in Forest Grove, Oregon

Quick Verdict

Alligator cracking repair in Forest Grove almost always means full-depth patching, because that web-like, interconnected pattern is a sign the base under your pavement has failed — not just the surface. Fatigue cracking happens when a weak or saturated base flexes under traffic until the asphalt breaks into connected scales. In Forest Grove's rainy west-valley setting against the Coast Range foothills, the heavy rainfall keeps the Washington County clay base wet and weak, which makes fatigue cracking a frequent problem here. You cannot seal or sealcoat alligator cracking away; the only lasting fix is to remove the failed section, repair the base, and pave back. Anything less buys a season at most.

What Alligator Cracking Is

Alligator cracking — also called fatigue cracking — is a network of interconnected cracks that resemble an alligator's scales or a dried mud flat. It starts as a few parallel cracks in a wheel path, and as the base keeps flexing, those cracks link into the recognizable web.

The crucial point is that alligator cracking is a structural failure. The broken asphalt is the symptom; the failed support below is the real problem. Our alligator cracking causes and repair guide covers the mechanism, and the pavement distress diagnosis guide shows how to separate it from surface-only cracking.

Why It Happens in Forest Grove

Forest Grove sits at the wet western edge of the Tualatin Valley, near the Coast Range foothills and the Gales Creek drainage, where rainfall runs higher than much of the valley. That extra water is the key. The silty valley clay under most Forest Grove lots holds water and loses strength when saturated, and in a high-rainfall area the base spends more of the year wet. A base that never gets a chance to dry out flexes and fatigues under traffic — and alligator cracking follows.

Common drivers in Washington County:

• High rainfall and saturation. More rain means a base that stays wet longer, which is the root of most fatigue cracking here.
• Poor drainage. Without a way to shed water, the clay base never dries. Most alligator cracking starts where water sits.
• Thin or under-built base. Pavement built too light for its loads fatigues early, faster on a chronically wet base.
• Age plus water. Brittle old asphalt cracks, water enters, and the cycle speeds up.

Why Sealing It Fails

Sealcoating or crack-filling alligator cracking is the most expensive mistake we see. It looks fixed briefly, then bleeds right back through. Here is why:

• Sealcoat is a thin surface coat with no structural strength and cannot bridge a saturated, moving clay base.
• Crack filler cannot fill a hundred connected cracks, and it does nothing for the failed support below.
• Covering it traps the problem while the next rainy season keeps the base wet and the failure spreading.

If your cracking is isolated rather than connected, that is different — see asphalt crack repair in Forest Grove for the cracks that genuinely get sealed.

The Right Repair: Full-Depth Patch

A lasting repair removes the failure and rebuilds support:

1. Saw-cut the failed area to clean square edges, a foot or so into sound pavement.
2. Excavate the failed asphalt and the saturated, compromised base.
3. Fix the cause — correct drainage so water sheds off the pavement, or the patch fails too.
4. Rebuild the base with proper aggregate, compacted in lifts.
5. Pave back with hot-mix asphalt, compacted and tied into the surrounding surface.

What Full-Depth Repair Costs

Industry Baseline Range: full-depth asphalt patching for alligator cracking typically runs in the range of $5 to $15+ per square foot depending on depth, base condition, access, and drainage work. These are industry baseline ranges for planning only — actual pricing depends on lot size, access, condition, and current market conditions. Get a site-specific quote.

Current Market Reality

In Washington County, full-depth work needs the dry May-to-October window to compact the base and place hot-mix properly — and in rainy Forest Grove, finding that reliably dry stretch means scheduling in midsummer. Catching alligator cracking while it is still a few isolated patches is dramatically cheaper than waiting until a wet winter spreads it lot-wide. Drainage correction is often the make-or-break step here.

The Bottom Line

Alligator cracking in Forest Grove is a structural alarm, and the area's heavy rainfall makes drainage the heart of the fix. Repair the base, correct the drainage so the base can dry, and pave back full-depth — while the failure is still small. Cojo provides asphalt repair services across Forest Grove and Washington County, and we will tell you honestly whether you need a patch or a rebuild. Request a quote or schedule a pavement inspection in Forest Grove.