All year round the roads are subject to strong climatic variations. In winter, partial or total freezing and thawing cause significant damage to the asphalt mixes: heaving, cracks, subsidence, potholes, etc.

The temperature, the length of the freeze-thaw period and the speed at which frost penetrates the asphalt are all factors influencing the sensitivity of the pavement and favoring the appearance of distresses. For the companies in charge of the construction and maintenance of road networks, being able to know the temperature of the ground in order to anticipate the thermoplastic behavior of the asphalt and thus to manage the road stock in the best possible way is a real challenge.

For example, in Quebec, where climatic conditions are extreme, roads suffer particularly from this phenomenon and degrade twice as fast as in temperate zones.