All About Asphalt Paving

Asphalt paving is an important part of general transportation and to your home. A billion dollar industry, the American economy produces a little over $30 billion worth of asphalt materials every year. It’s a basic material used to build miles of roads in the country, and the industry employs more than 400,000 employees in the construction sector.

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If you’re interested in constructing a new parking lot or driveway, asphalt is a great paving option.

We’ll tell you exactly why that is.

What Exactly Is Asphalt?

Before understanding why asphalt may be a good paving option for your driveway, you need to know exactly what material you’re using. Asphalt is a collection of binders, fillers, and aggregates. Sand, gravel, and crushed rocks are examples of aggregates, and the most frequently used binder is bitumen. The bitumen helps hold the aggregates together.

The ingredients in asphalt are mixed and baked to form the final product. The final product is durable and a relatively safer option to use in contrast to other materials.

Many construction companies use asphalt to build parking lots and driveways because of its reliability. Plus, porous asphalt has small holes that are bet for paving.

What Does The Installation Process Entail?

Asphalt installation requires a step by step process that begins by demolishing the existing surface to start fresh.
After demolition, the following steps are necessary:

Grading the Surface

The contractor grades the surface before laying down the asphalt. Most of the time, the contractor slopes the grading on grassy regions of the surface. This prevents water from laying on the surface of the completed asphalt.

Sub Base Preparation

The next step is to lay down a sub base layer on the surface. This layer provides the necessary support to bear heavy loads. The sub base layer is made up of aggregate materials, and more than half of it is just crushed stones.

The Binder Layer

This is the third step of the asphalt paving process and comprises bitumen. This helps hold the aggregate together. This layer is mixed with oil, giving it durability. Once the binder layer is complete, the contractor rolls down a proof layer. This proof layer is useful for analyzing any soft areas that can’t withstand heavy loads. The workers will dig a few feet below and replace the soft areas with strong aggregate materials.

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New Asphalt

Once the sub layer is strong enough, workers will lay down the asphalt and smooth out the surface.

Asphalt is ready once it cools down and is hard enough to use. It can take a couple of hours before the asphalt dries completely, but contractors recommend that you to wait at least 24 hours before driving your car on the hot asphalt.

Some people make the mistake of driving on it before it dries, which can damage the consistency of the finished asphalt and cause irregularities in the surface.

Bottom Line: Why Should You Use Asphalt Paving?

Asphalt paving is probably the safest and most durable option out of all the materials used. It is a great option for residential as well as commercial use, and your driveway can greatly benefit from asphalt paving.

If you want asphalt paving for your driveway, Whitman’s Asphalt Maintenance & Repair, Inc can help. We offer a range of asphalt services like asphalt paving, repaving, resurfacing, patching, and installation.

Contact us today for a free consultation.

Whitmans Asphalt Maintenance & Repair
6802 Stonesthrow Circle North
St. Petersburg, Florida 33710
727-449-9204
whitmansasphalt1981@gmail.com

1 Comment

  1. […] are it’s uses? Asphalt is a mixture of binder, filler, and aggregates that is mainly used for construction. Aggregate is the crushed mixture of sand and stone, which is put together with the help of a […]

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