Determine Your Asphalt Needs with a Toledo Paving Contractor

Asphalt paving might seem like a simple procedure, but many factors must be considered to ensure you get the proper work to meet your pavement needs. The paving contractor experts at Atlas Paving can help you determine the required specifications regarding the following issues:

• Pavement thickness: If you expect heavy truck traffics, forklifts, or just cars, the amount of asphalt required for a long-lasting, value-adding pavement surface will change.

• Thickness of stone base: Asphalt pavement’s stability and shape is largely determined by the quantity and quality of the stone base beneath it. If the base was never properly compacted or if organic materials like topsoil and grass were not completely removed, pockets of moisture will eventually find their way under the pavement and cause swelling and cracking.

• Drainage: Where does the water go when it hits your pavement? Any bona fide asphalt paving contractor will know that keeping water from standing on your asphalt pavement surface is priority No.1. There should never be any dips or humps in your new pavement and all water should move toward a specified catch basin or drainage swale. New pavement may require new drainage systems and structures.

• Mill and fill, complete replacement or overlay?: Many people wonder what the proper repair should be for a pavement surface. You should grind off the surface of the pavement and replace when you have significant cracking and potholes, but no structural damage like swelling or rutting. You should replace the entire pavement when there is the need for a re-grading of the stone base to smooth out a swelling, cracking, rutting pavement area. You should do a mere overlay, or maybe just patch, when there is only some pavement cracking.

When you have determined the correct amount of asphalt pavement you need installed, there are several different types of pavement to consider:

• Surface course, standard: the surface course is meant for, you guessed it, the top coat of asphalt where cars and trucks will actually be driving. This is also called the wearing course. It is a mix consisting of small aggregate stone and a higher ratio of sand to stone.

• Surface course, polymerized: To create a less porous, longer-lasting surface, it is possible to install asphalt mixed with rubber polymer. This mix can be dramatically more expensive than the standard surface mix if you are dealing in only small quantities.

• Intermediate course: This course is also referred to as the binder course or base course. It uses a slightly larger sized aggregate stone and a lower ratio of sand to stone as surface mix. The intermediate course also has polymerized versions.

• Base course: At times, it is proper to use asphalt base course which uses an even larger sized aggregate stone than the intermediate course. It can be used for added stability or as a cheaper replacement for intermediate mix.