I had a spot on my asphalt driveway that was obviously being pushed up by a root (there was a seam between two sections where water could get in so that wasn't surprising). The last couple of days I tackled it, chopping up the asphalt and digging around the root.
I expected to find the usual shape for roots, getting bigger as it got closer to the tree. Instead I found something very strange. There was a big lumpy bundle of twisted roots, up to 4 inches in diameter in places. But they didn't go anywhere. They just wrapped around themselves and disappeared into the soil in various directions. The really strange thing was that all the branches were quite small - no more than one inch.
It's almost as if the bundle wasn't attached to a tree at all, but I assume that one of those little side shoots must lead to a tree. There's a mature ponderosa pine about 12 feet away so I assume that must be it.
I didn't know that roots could take such a bizarre shape, and also I'm wondering how to prevent this thing happening again. I presume some small deep root must have come to the surface some years ago and started that whole process. I don't want to dig up more of my driveway than necessary to get every tiny little root. I'm wondering if simply digging a deeper hole and filling it with gravel before repaving would prevent root growth by drying the zone out. (There's gravely soil there now).