Tuesday 29 April 2014

Why Use Asphalt Paving Material In Pavements

By Essie Osborn


Installing pavements using asphalt materials provides a durable, economical, and cheap option for parking lot and driveways. An asphalt paving procedure should be handled by experts in order to ensure good practices, designs, and materials are used. From the preparation of the ground to the laying down of blacktop, everything has to be done correctly. The ground should be prepared and removed of any loose soils such as clays and debris.

Driveways are a safe place for kids to play around in homes. Designing your parking space and driveways using asphaltic material gives the first impression of your home or business. The driveways and parking lots are the first things people see, and they need to look as good as possible, and this is what asphalt offers.

The quality of parking lots and drives is as good as the base where the blacktop rests. If a weak base is constructed, you will soon experience problems such as upheavals and depressions. Cracks and potholes will also form on the surfaces. Because the pavements will suffer from oxidation, they need to be treated using sealcoats.

Asphaltic material undergoes constant change in its composition. The hydrocarbons are constantly shuffling as they seek equilibrium state. This oxidation process takes place throughout the entire lifespan of pavements. Hardening of pavements or blacktop is caused by the oxidation. To restore elasticity in blacktop, you need to sealcoat pavements.

Repairing potholes is costly but when they occur, they have to be dealt with immediately. Presence of potholes could indicate that the driveways and parking lots are deteriorating extensively. If not checked, potholes can lead to complete deterioration of your road structures. Repair of potholes may be done through patching where the ground is excavated and the loose materials are removed.

In addition, it is contoured to match the design and layout of the drive. Good preparation is needed to ensure that the surface is ready for construction of pavements. The surface preparation includes excavating and removing organic materials, loose soils, the top soils as well as clay. It may require about 6 to 8 inches of aggregate stones that are properly compacted and crushed to be laid on top of sub grade layer.

The most immediate cracks you may see are the fine hairline cracks. Although they are not easily noticeable, and not a threat as such, they can be restored by applying a sealcoat. However, if you do not seal the surface, those tiny small cracks enlarge and widen becoming more visible. You need to watch out for cracks since they can allow water to percolate and enter the sub base area.

When blacktop is heated directly by ultraviolet rays, it oxidizes fast than normal meaning that it hardens and loses its visco-elasticity property. In order to prevent such accelerated oxidation, you need to prevent the solar rays from directly heating blacktop material. This is why it is important to sealcoat the blacktop. It is part of the preventive maintenance procedures for driveways and parking lots.




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