Saturday, March 25, 2017

Why Paving Contractors Choose Asphalt



Among the available materials for paving roads and driveways, asphalt has been the choice of many paving contractor for the many advantages it has over other materials like concrete. There are a lot of asphalt solutions for urban, suburban or rural roads that can greatly be useful in coping with the stresses of heavy traffic.

The advantage of asphalt starts from its being cost-efficient. It is usually about 30 to 40 percent cheaper than concrete. Cost is an important factor in any project, of course for a project to push through the total costing must fit within the client's budget.

Next, the laying of asphalt only takes 1 to 2 days to complete whereas concrete takes several days longer. There is also a big difference in the time of usability of asphalt and concrete. Asphalt paving can already be used after 2 to 4 days depending on the time of year when the paving is laid, for example it cures or hardens faster in the Spring and Fall and takes longer in the Summer as the summer heat causes it to melt, while concrete paving may only be used after 7 days after it is placed. Concrete may takes less time to harden if a high early mix which is quite expensive.

General road maintenance is important to lengthen the life of the road structure that is why paving contractors prefer asphalt over concrete. When repair and maintenance is needed, asphalt can be easily opened and can be placed back quickly thereby the flow of traffic is not affected. It is also significantly cheaper in contrast to the cost of the material used in concrete which is higher.

When it comes to spalling, asphalt unlike concrete does not flake on the surface. The flaking of the concrete is primarily caused by the improper setting up of the material, too much water that is mixed in the concrete and the salt that is added to it.

Cracking is also a big issue for paving contractors. While concrete needs central joints to prevent it from cracking, asphalt is highly flexible which means that the pavement is less likely to split up or break. Also, asphalt is 100% recyclable thus using it instead of concrete may preserve non-renewable natural resources.

Noise both on the inside and outside of the vehicle can be greatly reduced when asphalt is used for paving. In fact, among all the traditional road surfaces asphalt roads have been proven to have the lowest noise level. What's more the recent development of porous asphalts has reduced the noise level even further.

Paving contractors has favored the use of asphalt for the past years for so many reasons which include like its higher level of skid resistance and versatility that have all been proven to contribute to the safety of the our roads. And with the continuing improvements in asphalt paving, it will remain the material of choice of many paving contractors for the years to come.


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