City of Hampton - Department of Public Works

Potholes and Cracked Pavement - FAQ's

Select a question below to see the answer on the right.

How can I obtain a copy of
the City's Street Resurfacing Plan?
Who should I call to report a pothole or cracked pavement that needs to be repaired?
How can I reach your 311 Customer Call Center?
When reporting a pot hole or cracked pavement, what type of information should I provide the 311 call taker?
What usually causes a pothole in the street?
What can I do if I think a pothole in the road caused damage to my vehicle?
How does Streets and Roads handle filling and repairing potholes?
What are these cracks in the street in front of my home and what causes them?
Who decides when a street needs to be resurfaced?

Answers

The City's Tentative Street Resurfacing Plan is available HERE.

Call the 311 Customer Call Center.

If you are calling from the City of Hampton, simply dial 311 on your touch tone or rotary dial phone. From outside the City of Hampton please dial (757) 727-8311. Call takers are available from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. seven days a week to assist you.

If you are calling from the City of Hampton, simply dial 311 on your touch tone or rotary dial phone. From outside the City of Hampton please dial (757) 727-8311. Call takers are available from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. seven days a week to assist you.

Give the call taker the exact location of the pot hole, its size, depth (if known), and whether or not the road is concrete or asphalt.

Water gets below the surface of the asphalt or concrete expands and causes a pothole. This process is accelerated during the cold months and is even worse following a winter storm.

All potholes should be avoided so damage will not occur. Potholes are considered a natural occurrence and normally claims of damage are not approved unless the City had prior knowledge of the pothole. If you want to file a claim with the City for damage, you will need to contact our Risk Management Office at (757) 727-6617 so that they can investigate the claim.

Repair crews follow "routes" each working day looking for and repairing potholes they find and those that have been reported by residents. All routes, and called in tickets, are completed within 5 working days. Emergency repairs of large or dangerous potholes are repaired right away.

Asphalt cracking can be caused by many things. Water getting under the streets surface, oil and chemicals can cause damage to the street surface, the asphalt could be getting old and reaching its life expectancy, or there could be a weak sub-base supporting the street in that particular area.

Many factors are considered when deciding if a street needs to be resurfaced. Each year a portion of City's streets are resurfaced with Capital Project Funds. After all data is gathered and studied, the Streets Division Manager makes the final decision.