Pothole Formation Research Articles

Pothole formation on Rock Window Mesa, Chinle valley, AZ

In areas of the Colorado Plateau, rock basins, or potholes, occur in abundance. Because of their impressive size and often enigmatic location, their presence begs an explanation. Our goal in undertaking this research is to suggest a model for the origin of Rock Window Mesa's potholes, by which we might better interpret the geomorphological history of the mesa and Chinle Valley. Data collection consisted of both field work and analysis of a high-resolution 3D point cloud of the mesa. The southern and western edges of the mesa, closest to the Chinle Wash, and close to where knickpoints may have been, are the areas of highest pothole density. The pothole-forming processes disrupted drainage systems, and pothole sizes do not correlate with the catchment areas of the potholes. There are abundant, fluvially deposited erratic pebbles and cobbles on the mesa, and the joints and cracks that are present in the bedrock exert little to no control over pothole morphology. These data suggest that the potholes were formed subaqueously. A proposal that may point us to a possible mechanism is that similar potholes, in the Navajo Sandstone exposed in the Henry Mountains, appear to have been formed via fluvial processes in over-steepened tributary junctions. At our research location, the water that carved out the potholes appears to have come from ENE, and the point at which this water met the Chinle Wash may have been over-steepened as a result of rapid incision of the Chinle Wash through the poorly lithified Navajo Sandstone.

Evaluating and optimizing NBR-modified bituminous mixes: a rheological and RSM-based study.

Bitumen shows visco-elastic behavior, exhibiting both elastic and viscous properties as predicted by dynamic response and phase angle. Modern asphalt bituminous pavements face issues such as early-stage fatigue cracks, rutting, and permanent deformations due to low-temperature cracking, high-temperature deformation, moisture susceptibility, and overloading. These pavement distresses result in the formation of potholes, alligator cracks, and various deformations, which accelerate the need for rehabilitation and maintenance. To address these concerns, this study focused on utilizing Nitrile Butadiene Rubber derived from surgical gloves as an additive in conventional asphalt pavements to assess its effect on stiffness. Nitrile Butadiene Rubber was added in intervals of 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% to conventional bituminous pavement. The rheological properties, marshall properties, dynamic modulus, and phase angle were evaluated for varying percentages of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber at different temperature, and frequency. The dynamic response was determined using a simple performance tester at four different temperatures (4.4°C, 21.1°C, 37.8°C, and 54.4°C) and six different frequencies (0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, and 25Hz). Response surface methodology was employed to establish a relationship between input and output variables and to optimize the amount of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber in the mix based on dynamic modulus and phase angle. The study concluded that adding up to 6% of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber improved Marshall stability, while higher percentages led to reduced stability. A similar trend was observed in the dynamic modulus, which peaked with the addition of 6% Nitrile Butadiene Rubber, regardless of frequency and temperature. The response surface methodology model indicated that coupling the percentage of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber with frequency increased the dynamic modulus at a constant temperature, with the highest value occurring at 4.4°C. However, the dynamic modulus decreased as the temperature rose for the same combinations of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber percentages and frequencies. Numerical optimization suggested that a maximum of 5.9% Nitrile Butadiene Rubber should be added to achieve the highest dynamic modulus and lowest phase angle.

IOT- Based Potholes and Speed Breaker Detection

Abstract: Due to the rise in automobiles, climate change, and population density, there are now an alarmingly large number of potholes in the world. Understanding the physical features of potholes and their surroundings, such as the surfaces they appear on, the size and depth of common potholes, and the kinds of wear and tear that might result in pothole formation, is usually necessary for their identification. Itwould also require familiarity with technologies like deep learning and machine learning techniques that are frequently used for pothole identification. Poor road conditions are one of the major causes for road accidents. Developing countries in particular are witnessing in- creased accident rates due to these poor road conditions. Potholes, deep ridges, missing pitches, improper speed breakers, poorly constructed manhole covers and slabs all combine to greatly increase the probability of serious accidents thus transforming roads into obstacle courses. In this study we have developed a model to detect unwanted potholes, deep ridges and speed breakers using computer vision and machine learning tools. We have developed a customized dataset (called Bumpy) that we use to train our machine learning algorithms. In this paper we propose a method where we use the Tensorflow pre-trained model to detect the potholes, deep ridges and speed breakers. Our experimental results demonstrate high accuracy although there are many obstacles on the road.

ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ ПІДВИЩЕНОЇ ДОВГОВІЧНОСТІ КОНСТРУКЦІЇ ДОРОЖНЬОГО ПОКРИТТЯ НА ЗАЛІЗОБЕТОННИХ АВТОДОРОЖНІХ МОСТАХ

Introduction. The pavement on reinforced concrete road bridges is one of the main structural elements of the structure, the technical condition of which affects the safety of the structure as a whole. The durability of the asphalt pavement is influenced by a number of factors, including the type of construction of the designed pavement, including the waterproofing coating, as well as the resistance of the structure to climatic factors and the effects of traffic. Problemstatement. Most of the highway bridges were built in the 60s and 80s of the 20th century. The artificial structures were designed in accordance with the regulations and technical specifications in force at the time, taking into account the prospects for the development of transport infrastructure and calculating the estimated traffic intensity of up to 20 thousand vehicles per day. However, over the last decade, the intensity and speed of road traffic has increased significantly, as well as the movement of heavy vehicles (mostly uncontrolled), especially in summer, when the air temperature fluctuates above +28 °C. In turn, this leads to excessive load on the bridge deck structures, including the asphalt pavement, which leads to its destruction (formation of cracks, potholes, sagging, rutting and other damage). Results. A technological scheme for the construction of a pavement with increased durability on reinforced concrete road bridges is presented.

Analyzing an Efficient Mix Design for the Production of Quality Asphalt Concrete: A Means of Reducing Roads’ maintenance cost

Poor road design is the bedrock for strength deformation and formation of potholes on road pavements. The best choice of aggregates for asphalt concrete production has a great impact on its stability, sustainability and durability during its serviceability lifestyle. The critical design and analysis methods are the standard methods needed to eradicate these defects of roads deformation in the global construction industries. This study reveals the hidden knowledge about the formulation of standard mix design for asphaltic concrete production. In the experiment, three different mixed designs were evaluated in order to ascertain the best and quality aggregates for durable road’s pavement production. The results proved that, the proportion of aggregate obtained from the first mix design yielded the best result, and this is suggested for the global production of quality and standard asphalt concrete for roads’ binder pavements’ construction. Also, the formulated aggregates’ mix design for roads’ wearing course pavement obtained was considered the best for industrial practice. Furthermore, the accuracy and efficiency of the results obtained relied so much on standard estimate made for the quality production of asphalt concrete cost about $270,830.00 from Chainages 26 + 700 to 26 + 925. All the experimental results proved that, standard aggregates’ mix design prevents unnecessary defects on road pavement system. In conclusion, the application of the first mix design in road construction will improve its sustainability, durability and stability capacity. Likewise, it will prevent unnecessary spending on road pavement’s maintenance.

Detection of Pothole by Applying Convolutional Neural Network and Random Forest Techniques

Roads are essential for daily transportation worldwide, but their aging and usage patterns can cause deterioration of the road surface, leading to a decline in quality. This deterioration often results in the formation of potholes and cracks on the roads, which can cause damage to vehicles or pose a physical danger to occupants, particularly in underdeveloped countries. Identifying potholes in real-time can help drivers avoid them and prevent accidents. Furthermore, recording their locations and sharing them can assist other drivers and road maintenance organizations take prompt corrective measures. In our attempt to address the issue of pothole detection, we aim to combine the latest technological advancements. We aim to develop practical, reliable, adaptable, and modular solutions. To achieve this, we will compare the performance of Random Forest, a machine learning model, with CNN, a deep learning model, in detecting potholes. We will train these models using multiple datasets and analyse their performance to determine their effectiveness in pothole detection.

Cyclic stress–strain characteristics of red clay treated with permeable water-soluble polyurethane

Red clay, a globally distributed type of chemical weathering soil, is commonly utilized as a road base in road infrastructure. However, due to its susceptibility to water and vibrations, it is prone to settlement and formation of potholes during operation, consequently leading to damage in the pavement structure. This paper employs a dynamic triaxial apparatus to simulate realistic traffic loads and investigates the dynamic properties of red clays treated with permeable water-soluble polyurethane (PSP). Additionally, a series of microscopic tests are conducted to elucidate the microstructural mechanisms of using PSP for improving red clay, as well as the microscopic deformation mechanisms of the PSP-treated red clay (PSP clay) under cyclic loading. The results provide detailed insights into the influence of soil moisture content and PSP content on key parameters, including the resilient modulus, damping ratio, permanent deformation, and strength of PSP clay after repeated loading. Moreover, the overall performance of PSP clay is evaluated under varying loading amplitudes and confining pressures. These results are complemented and interpreted in conjunction with the findings from the microscopic tests. The findings reveal that the inclusion of PSP improves the strength of the soil skeleton by enveloping and interlocking with the clay particles. Furthermore, it is observed that the engineering properties of high-moisture-content red clay soils can be significantly improved with low levels of PSP. Under specific conditions, repeated loading further compact the PSP clays, thereby enhancing their mechanical properties. The experimental findings presented in this study are of utmost importance for the improvement and application of red clays through the utilization of rapid solutions, such as PSP.

Analysis and Prediction of Pothole Formation Rate Using Spatial Density Measurements and Pavement Condition Indicators

Potholes represent one of the dangerous distress types on roads. They form as a result of various factors, including water ingress, freeze–thaw, and pavement condition deterioration. In the UK, 1.7 million potholes were repaired in 2021; this critical number causes significant economic, social, and environmental impacts; there is no tool able to predict the number of potholes that might appear in a road network. This study aims to analyze pothole formation and its relationship with other distress types and their severity, and to develop a simple tool able to predict the number of potholes that might appear in a road network based on the network condition. Significant pothole data from the road network of Greater London between 2017 and 2020, in addition to surface distress data, were used in this study. ‘Spatial density’ and ‘join’ tools embedded in ArcGIS were used to correlate pothole spatial density (PSD) with the road condition surrounding the potholes. This analysis was then used to calculate PSD as a function of different condition indicators, such as road condition index and crack intensity, allowing prediction of the number of potholes based on the length and condition of the sections being analyzed. The results demonstrate that potholes are significantly concentrated in sections with deteriorated conditions. They also show that it is possible to predict the number of potholes using PSD with reasonable accuracy. Lastly, it was found that sections with low crossfall are more susceptible to pothole formation, presumably because of water ponding and consequent damage.

Study on Geosynthetics in Pavement Design

Geosynthetic reinforcement is one of the techniques adopted to improve their performance in pavement design.Geogrid are single line and multi-layer materials usually made by extruding and stretching high density polyethylene,or by weaving or knitting and coating high-strength polyester yarns.The resulting lattice structure has large holes that improve interaction with the soil aggregate. Roads having mostly the problems like the formation of potholes, ruts, cracks and localized depression and settlement, especially during rainy season. These are mainly due to the insufficient bearing capacity of the subgrade in water saturated condition.Geogrids are reinforcing elements to strengthen the ground in order to work on very soft and weak ground in the construction of asphalted or unpaved vehicle roads and areas where the high traffic flow is expected.Laboratory and simulated field CBR tests are conducted on soil samples with and without the inclusion of geogrid layer and also by varying the position of it in the mould. Use of geogrid increases the CBR value of the subgrade and thereby reduces the pavement thickness considerably up to 40%.This study will have positive impact as it will be reduce both project and road maintenance costs.

Safety and environmental benefits of intelligent speed bumps

Speed bumps are a common speeding prevention measure used to protect vulnerable road users, i.e. pedestrians and cyclists, near crosswalks in urban areas. They are also used to reduce traffic volumes, prevent overtaking, and allow a change in driving routine. However, conventional speed bumps have certain shortcomings, such as reduced driving comfort for all road users, potential vehicle damage and associated repair costs, delays for emergency vehicles and public transport vehicles, longer travel times and congestion, difficulties with snow removal in winter, the formation of ruts and potholes before or after such obstacles, and an increase in fuel consumption, traffic noise, and emissions of harmful gasses during braking and accelerating. Consequently, in recent years, intensive work has been done to solve the above problems by developing so-called intelligent speed bumps. Although evaluating the performance of these intelligent speed bumps in real-world environments is not yet widely available in scientific research, numerous patents have been filed in this field over the years. This paper provides an overview of several intelligent speed bumps that have been developed in recent years and discusses the results of investigations conducted on one such speed bump that is already widely used in practice.

Multiphysics based Analysis of Materials for Roads in Cold Regions to Prevent Ice Adhesion and Low-Temperature Crack Developments

Roads constitute a significant hazard if the effects of wintertime are not handled well. After a heavy snowfall, the most dangerous factor is a slippery surface due to ice adhesion with the asphalt pavement. The ice on roads increases the risk of road accidents and, upon melting, contributes to the formation of Low-Temperature Cracks (LTCs) and potholes. This research explores the physical principle that could remove the ice from concrete roads by investigating whether road ice is susceptible to self-separation upon loading when the road surfaces in cold regions are coated with a polymer-based material such as polyurethane. This study conducted an experimental and numerical analysis of ice-polyurethane and ice-concrete separation under tensile load and calculated the Von-Mises stresses on the surfaces. Results revealed higher Von-Mises stresses on ice when the base material is polyurethane compared to concrete, indicating ice is more prone to self-separation when adhered to polyurethane than concrete. These results are important for increasing the operational life of roads in cold regions and reducing the number of road accidents. In addition, polyurethane is a potential material for pre-emptive road measures, such as repairing cracks before they become potholes.

Water- and frost-resistance of crushed stone mastic asphalt concrete prepared on sevilen-modified bitumen

Introduction. Currently, increasing the durability of road asphalt concrete pavements is one of the urgent issues, the solution of which provides a significant economic effect achieved by increasing the turnaround time, as well as the overall service life of highways. Asphalt concrete pavements with prolonged wetting due to weakening of structural bonds can be destroyed due to crumbling of mineral grains, which leads to increased wear of the pavement and the formation of potholes. Water penetrates into micro defects in the structure of asphalt concrete, leading to a decrease in the strength of the material. As a result, the corrosion resistance of asphalt concrete is reduced. To improve the quality of the binder and the durability of the asphalt concrete pavement, in particular from crushed stone-mastic asphalt concrete (SMA), various modifying additives, including polymer ones, are used. In this regard, a promising direction is the use of polymers containing active groups, which are able to provide an increase in adhesion to mineral materials, including those from acid rocks, and, consequently, water resistance. One of these is the ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVAC).Materials and methods. In order to study the effect of sevilen on the water and frost resistance of asphalt concrete mixtures, crushed stone-mastic asphalt concrete mixtures were prepared based on bitumen modified with БНД 70/100 sevilen made in the Moscow Oil Refinery Plant was used as the initial bitumen in the preparation of modified binders. Tests of crushed stone-mastic asphalt concrete mixtures were carried out for the indicator of the content of air voids in accordance with GOST R 58406.8.2019, the coefficient of water resistance in accordance with GOST R 58401.18-2019 and frost resistance in accordance with GOST 12801-98.Results. It has been established that the content of air voids in asphalt concrete samples significantly decreases with an increase in the concentration of sevilene, which will further contribute to a higher frost resistance of the road surface. It is shown that the use of sevilen with 22% vinyl acetate makes it possible to increase the coefficient of water resistance of asphalt concrete mixtures due to the presence of polar molecules in the composition of ethylene vinyl acetate, actively interacting with the mineral components of the asphalt concrete mixture. The use of sevilen improves the frost resistance of asphalt concrete samples. So, the smallest decrease in strength in tests for frost resistance was shown by samples with 5% sevilene. It was found that polymer asphalt concrete based on binder with sevilene containing 22% vinyl acetate, which corresponds to the maximum basicity of the polymer, has the highest resistance to humidity and temperature effects of the environment.

Effect of montmorillonite modification on resistance to thermal oxidation aging of asphalt binder

Asphalt binder aging can cause various pavement diseases including cracking, stripping and pothole formation, which reduce the service life of asphalt pavements. Therefore, asphalt binder modification is regarded as an economical and effective method to improve its antiaging properties. In this paper, the Montmorillonite (MMT) modified asphalt binder with the additive amount of 2, 4, and 6 wt% were prepared. Rolling thin-film oven test (RTFOT) and pressure aging vessel (PAV) procedures were carried out respectively to simulate thermal oxidation aging in both short and long terms. Temperature sweep tests using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were performed on base and MMT-modified asphalt binders at different aging conditions. Antiaging behaviors were evaluated through the basic physical and rheological indexes, and FTIR and AFM indicators. The antiaging sensitivity and mechanism were also analysed. The results showed that 4 wt% MMT modified asphalt binder exhibits excellent antiaging properties.

A Novel Road Maintenance Prioritisation System Based on Computer Vision and Crowdsourced Reporting

The maintenance of critical infrastructure is a costly necessity that developing countries often struggle to deliver timely repairs. The transport system acts as the arteries of any economy in development, and the formation of potholes on roads can lead to injuries and the loss of lives. Recently, several countries have enabled pothole reporting platforms for their citizens, so that repair work data can be centralised and visible for everyone. Nevertheless, many of these platforms have been interrupted because of the rapid growth of requests made by users. Not only have these platforms failed to filter duplicate or fake reports, but they have also failed to classify their severity, albeit that this information would be key in prioritising repair work and improving the safety of roads. In this work, we aimed to develop a prioritisation system that combines deep learning models and traditional computer vision techniques to automate the analysis of road irregularities reported by citizens. The system consists of three main components. First, we propose a processing pipeline that segments road sections of repair requests with a UNet-based model that integrates a pretrained Resnet34 as the encoder. Second, we assessed the performance of two object detection architectures—EfficientDet and YOLOv5—in the task of road damage localisation and classification. Two public datasets, the Indian Driving Dataset (IDD) and the Road Damage Detection Dataset (RDD2020), were preprocessed and augmented to train and evaluate our segmentation and damage detection models. Third, we applied feature extraction and feature matching to find possible duplicated reports. The combination of these three approaches allowed us to cluster reports according to their location and severity using clustering techniques. The results showed that this approach is a promising direction for authorities to leverage limited road maintenance resources in an impactful and effective way.

Use of novel 3D seismic technology and machine learning for pothole detection, characterization, and classification — Case study in the Bushveld Complex (South Africa)

We demonstrate that integrating 3D reflection seismics with machine learning (ML) can bring many benefits for the future development of the mining industry. We use a serial integration of reflection seismics, which identifies economic horizon-depression structures known as potholes within the western Bushveld Complex. Thereafter, agglomerative clustering is applied to the resulting data, using features engineered from the physical characteristics of the potholes. Our results indicate that potholes can be divided into several classes based on characteristic features; e.g., large potholes are substantially less steep than small potholes. Furthermore, we model this empirical relationship and show that it can be used to predict average sizes of potholes given their typical in-mine exposures. We also demonstrate that pothole formation is likely to have been initiated depth-wise, followed by lateral increases in size. Lastly, we demonstrate that our serial application of seismically based data generation and ML-based data analytics is a viable alternative to conventional geostastistical analysis, especially for the classification, prediction, and modeling of geologic structures such as potholes.

Thousands of Potholes in the Mekong River and Giant Pedestal Rock from North-eastern Thailand: Introduction to a Future Geological Heritage Site

A site with thousands of potholes, locally named “Samphunbok (SPB),” and a giant pedestal (mushroom) rock possess a very high geological value. The potholes are being formed on the riverbed of the Mekong River; whereas the giant pedestal rock is the largest on the Khorat Plateau, and is located in Ubon Ratchathani province, north-eastern Thailand. Based on detailed geological, geomorphological, and sedimentological perspectives, this paper presents the geological history of both erosional features for the future promotion of the Global Geopark Network. The giant pedestal rock is likely to be a remnant of degradation and weathering after a regional tectonic event. It is sculptured in the fracture zone of thick sandstone beds after uplifting and folding. No evidence of abrasion by wind was found. The formation of potholes is limited inside the Mekong River bankfull elevation. The appearance of potholes in different levels of the sandstone beds infers their formation in relation to the vertical evolution of the Mekong River. All geological data shown in this paper confirm the rareness of potholes and the giant pedestal rock in terms of how they were sculptured and preserved through time. These erosional features at SPB are discussed and introduced in this paper as a global geological heritage site.

Investigation of stress in a pothole in the Bushveld Complex: A case study

SYNOPSIS Potholes on the Merensky and UG2 reefs in the Bushveld Complex occur as near-circular to elliptical depressions or slumps on the reef horizon, normally presenting as severe disruptions which prevent economic extraction. Within the pothole, the reef and other strata may either be attenuated, absent, or highly deformed, this being the result of the overlying hangingwall strata having slumped down. The hypotheses for pothole formation involve several mechanisms, including downward erosion, upward fluid movement, or synmagmatic deformation. When potholes are exposed in mine workings, significant fracturing is often observed. This fracturing is particularly evident in anorthosite rock types. Stress measurements were conducted in a pothole on the Merensky Reef to determine if the fracturing was due to high stress conditions. The paper describes the measurement results and numerical modelling that was done to determine the influence of depth and mining on the stress condition at the site. The results show that high stresses do exist in at least some potholes, and that current formation theories do not adequately explain the measured stresses. In support of understanding the high local stress associated with the pothole, the study explored several rock engineering modelling processes to validate the conditions of the study site and enclosing excavations. A better understanding of the stress conditions in potholes with additional data could lead to more appropriate support design and avoidance of potential rockbursts in these structures. Keywords: potholes, stress, fracturing, discontinuities, jointing, Merensky, UG2.

Investigation of jet and micro-gap discharge in Cu-Al plates EMPW process

Abstract Electromagnetic pulse welding (EMPW) is an environmentally-friendly, fast, and efficient welding technology for dissimilar metals. In this study, a 28 kJ/20 kV EMPW system is designed and developed to carry out the EMPW experiment of welding 1060 aluminum plate and T2 copper plate. The complete process of the jet has been captured during the welding process through an integrated observation system. And a micro-gap discharge is also first discovered during the transient physical process. The results of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) analysis show that the interface morphologies of the ablation caused by the micro-gap discharge and the EMPW seam are different. A 3D finite element simulation model is established to investigate the cause of the micro-gap discharge in COMSOL Multiphysics. Based on the analysis of the motion behavior of the plate and the distribution of electromagnetic parameters, the simulation results show that the micro-gap discharge may be the result of the fact that the electric field strength is higher than the breakdown strength of air. Thus, the micro-gap discharge can release the energy of the plate. And the site where the micro-gap discharge is released is related to the induced potential difference and the contact pressure. This paper explains the formation of potholes on the welding surface, trying to enrich the study on the transient physical process of the EMPW.

Soil Stabilization using Pro-base Technology

Roads are the lifeline of the nation and hence a road must be of better quality which could make effective land access possible. According to a research conducted in Sri Lanka, if you want to rescue a village from poverty, 10-20 years of educational subsidy might not work, but if the same amount of money is funneled on road infrastructure development, you can see results within 2 years. An effective road network ensures efficient delivery of goods and transportation of people, directly contributing to the economic growth of the region. Due to economic reasons in developing nations like India, it is not possible to make paved roads especially in rural areas. These areas are mostly connected by the use of unpaved roads called as earth road or soil roads. But there are many problems associated in building these roads particularly like deterioration of the surface usually by rutting and formation of potholes, dusty in dry state and muddy during wet state. The basis of this report is to make aware about the non-traditional soil stabilization technique using Probase SH-85 Soil Hardener for hardening soil of any type and TX-85 Soil Stabilizer & Strengthener for stabilizing unstable soil and at last sealing it by spraying with Probase PB-65 Soil Sealant on soil surface. The Probase Road System ensures making soil road no longer dusty and muddy. These products are free from toxins and are environmental friendly unlike bitumen, soil-cement, lime and asphalt roads. Probase soil stabilizer will hence not only help in stabilizing the soil but will also reduce maintenance and construction cost, along with ensuring that the roads remain open and well operational in rainy season and dust-free in dry season that is to make it an all-weather road.

An innovative seismic and statistical approach to understand 3D magmatic structures and ore deposits in the western Bushveld Complex, South Africa

In this paper, we demonstrate the effectiveness of a novel approach to identify and quantify structural features that disrupt ore-bearing horizons using 3D seismic attributes and a horizon-surface processing technique (difference-of-two-surfaces) on high-resolution 3D reflection seismic data from the Lonmin Platinum Mine in the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. We demonstrate that seismic attribute analysis is an effective tool to enhance the intelligibility of the UG-2, a PGE-enriched chromitite layer, as well as potholes (slump structures), faults, iron-rich ultramafic pegmatite bodies (IRUPs) and other subtle geological features. Furthermore, the horizon-surface processing technique is able to quantify the dimensions and geometry of potholes. In total, we identify 66 potholes and show that they are probably randomly distributed in 2D on the UG-2 horizon with some extent of clustering. Roughly two classes of potholes are identifiable by size. The larger potholes are clustered around a major normal fault (the Marikana Fault) and its branches in the area. Using a first-order pothole structure/geometry statistical analysis, we demonstrate that: (1) the diameters and surface areas of the potholes are strongly related to their depths; and (2) the volume of the potholes is substantially log-normally distributed. We interpret these findings to implicate a coherent and pervasive pothole formation mechanism. Furthermore, we show that statistically-derived pothole structure/geometry knowledge can be used to constrain the validity of several hypotheses. Our findings indicate the most probable pothole formation hypothesis is a widespread extensional regime in the Bushveld Complex magma chamber. Therefore, our study provides important, large-scaled and highly data-driven insights with an approach that can be applied to a wide range of magmatic structures. Furthermore, relationships identified between various pothole characteristics, in addition to their academic value, also allows for predictive modelling that can guide mine planning and resource extraction.