Asphalt Quality Control

A look at the technology and testing that lies behind the scenes of producing a quality road surface. Ensuring that the asphalt mix continually meets specifications really is an exact science! For more information, see other videos on this channel or visit: www.paiky.org

Plantmix Asphalt Industry of Kentucky

When to Repair or Replace Your Driveway

How do you know if your driveway can be repaired or needs to be replaced? From simple cracks to major wear and tear, the process requires careful consideration and planning. Concrete is a popular material for driveways, due to its affordability, but it tends to crack under pressure and adverse weather conditions and repairs can be a challenge. The most common driveway material is asphalt, also known as blacktop. It’s economical and can be repaired more than once by just repaving. However, it does have a tendency to break down as time goes by. Another material used in driveways is brick pavers and while they can last a long time, the upfront costs can be significant. - - - - - - - - - - As with many home improvement projects, preparation and having the right tools is key to a job done right. While small surface repairs may be within your repertoire of DIY skills, larger scale jobs are likely left to the professionals. Before you sign on the dotted line, take some time to check references and reviews from previous customers. Some may even send you a list of jobs they’ve done locally, including the dates of installation so you can see how they stood the test of time. - - - - - - - - - -

Why Landscaping Experts Recommend Asphalt Sealcoating

Creating a driveway on your property is important to help you protect your lawns. However, when creating driveways or pathways, it is imperative that you make use of durable materials like asphalt.

As of now, asphalt driveways and pathways are very popular. However, there are cases when homeowners may notice unsightly issues. Thus, landscaping experts recommend homeowners to opt for asphalt sealcoating. With this solution, homeowners can obtain wonderful features that can benefit them. Below are some of the following.

To prevent small cracks

One of the reasons why landscaping experts recommend asphalt sealcoating is to prevent small cracks. Cracks on asphalt are caused by numerous factors. These include moisture, ground movements and erosion, excessive weight as well as improper installation. Fortunately, cracks can be eliminated by using sealcoating. This solution can also hide patches and rough areas.

To reduce damages caused by chemicals

The next reason why landscaping experts recommend asphalt sealcoating is to reduce damages caused by chemicals. This is possible since asphalt sealcoating fills surface voids, which reduces exposure to oxygen and UV rays and reduces the depth to which oil or gas can penetrate the asphalt. Other than that, sealcoating can also prevent oxidation and erosion of the top layer and replaces fine particles lost from the asphalt surface due to oxidation on older pavements. And, it also resists gas, diesel fuel, oil, salt and chemical penetration which will break down the bond between the aggregate and the liquid asphalt.

To eliminate water damage

Using asphalt sealcoating can also help homeowners eliminate water damage. Water can easily damage asphalt since it enters the asphalt. Because of this, moisture can be formed which can affect the quality and reliability of asphalt. By using sealcoating, you can prevent water from entering the asphalt since it can protect the surface properly.

To improve aesthetics

With the use of sealcoating homeowners can also improve the aesthetics of their asphalt. Due to aging, the color of the asphalt fades. However, sealcoating can protect its color since this solution is dark and black colored when applied.

To reduce maintenance costs

Finally, landscaping experts can also reduce their maintenance costs when using sealcoating. When it comes to repairs, asphalt repairs can be expensive since you need to hire specialists in order to properly remove cracks and other asphalt issues. On the other hand, sealcoating can easily leave a smooth, clean surface ideal for sweeping, which lowers cleaning costs and for a driveway and gives your entrance a fresh and new look.

These are only some of the benefits that homeowners can obtain when investing in sealcoating solutions from reliable landscaping experts.

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Vaca Vet Striping Services: Grading & Excavating

http://vacavetstriping.com

If you’re looking to increase your property value and curb appeal by dressing up your driveway, fixing an irritating drainage problem, enhancing the aesthetics via site grading we got you covered!

Vaca Vet Striping has over 30 years experience doing business as ACE Paving Company, with a General Engineering Class A Contractor’s License #389714. We strive to provide quality work and great service at an affordable cost. Vaca Vet Striping service area is Solano, Napa, Yolo, and Sacramento counties.

Petromat Geotextile Paving Fabric

Installing Petro Mat geotextile paving fabric before your asphalt overlay will prevent reflective cracking in your New Jersey asphalt parking lot along with waterproofing the surface. www.fixasphalt.com

FixAsphalt

How an Asphalt Paver Works and Keys to a Successful Commercial Paving Project

This video takes viewers step by step through a paving operation, from the pre-paving preparations and paver set up to each component of the paving train through to compaction. Helpful considerations for a successful project are addressed at the end of the video.

Fire Lane and ADA Striping

When your parking lot needs to be compliant with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Standards of Accessible Design, there are a few things to keep in mind. To begin with, when you need to provide spaces for parking, you have an immediate obligation to remove any barriers to accessibility that may exist in your facility of parking. It is relatively inexpensive to do ADA striping and thus, quite achievable. Here are a few tips to ensure you get it right the first time.

Tip #1: Know Your Number

In each garage or parking lot, the minimum number of spaces accessible is based on the provided number of parking spaces. In every six spaces that are accessible, at least one needs to be accessible by van.

It is always a good idea to perform routine maintenance and repaint your parking lot every one to three years. Signage and striping is required and you need to meet the fire code and striping regulations of ADA.

Tip#1: Follow Your Own State's Parking Requirements

Restrictions of parking according to ADA requirements are mandated by the state. In other words, you will need to inquire about the ADA requirements that are specific to your own state. On the other hand, poorly marked No Parking Areas are a universal issue. Also, many drivers are aware and still decide to illegally park. State laws restrict parking areas for the purpose of public safety. After all, emergency personnel never wants to deal with limited access due to parking illegally.

Tip#3: Fire Lane Signs

If you own a building or a business, ADA requires that you display signs that indicate a fire lane in order to maintain a lane designated for first responders or fire trucks that they can use during a situation of emergency. These types of urgent situations can include fire extinguishing or even another type of emergency.

A fire lane that has a no parking sign indicates that all drivers and patrons of your business must not park in an area designated as a Fire Lane. In addition, in times when parking is not easy to come by, none of the cars ought to park blocking these fire lanes, as they must be kept free at all time. Often, these types of signage are also a requirement by your local government to ensure the protection and compliance of every public establishment.

Tip#4 Striping Your Spaces

When striping your parking spaces, you need to provide ADA-required parking space access. This means there must be a removal of every barrier that barricades access to existing parking lots. It is stipulated by ADA that parking spaces that lead to a specific building needs to be built in the shortest route accessible from the parking point until the entrance.

Tip#5 Size Matters

When striping your parking lot, size does matter. ADA has size specifications that you need to follow. For example, accessible parking spaces need to be a minimum of eight feet wide and should have an access aisle adjacent to this. When it comes to parking spaces for vans, an eight-foot adjacent aisle is required. If striping spaces for cars, there needs to be a five-foot wide access aisle adjacently placed to the parking space. Use the highest quality paint to assure the brightest lines possible.

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How to Protect Your Driveway

Driveway sealing is an easy and cost-effective way to protect and prolong the life of your driveway. Asphalt surfaces are particularly susceptible to wear and tear, both from weather and from automobile traffic, and the grade of asphalt commonly used on driveways is even more so. Driveway sealing at regular intervals gives your driveway the added protection it needs to last longer and resist deterioration.

Needs Regular Upkeep
If you’re not sure on this point, consider the constant upkeep the asphalt roads in your community need in order to stay in good shape. Add to that the fact that the asphalt used on roads is generally a higher grade and made to withstand a higher level of abuse than the asphalt typically used in driveway applications, and you can see why it’s important to keep up on regular maintenance, including asphalt sealing, in order to fend off major projects such as repaving a crumbling asphalt surface.

The Benefits
Sealing your driveway has many benefits when it comes to preserving your concrete driveway. First and foremost, a properly applied driveway sealer repels water, perhaps the single most harmful agent when it comes to deteriorating asphalt surfaces. Concrete has a natural tendency to crack if water is allowed to permeate it, and this tendency is only increased by the weight of cars regularly driving over it. Once those cracks appear, water further damages it, especially in cold climates where it expands and contracts with freezing temperatures.

Other enemies of your driveway include sunlight and oxygen, both of which hasten corrosion. By regularly applying a quality driveway sealer to your concrete you can prevent water, sunlight, and air from permeating your asphalt and prevent these problems. As an added benefit, driveway sealing also repels oil spills and leaks and makes it much easier for you to sweep and clean your driveway surface.

When to Apply
As a general rule, you should seal your driveway every 1 to 3 years. More specifically, if you can see the color of the individual stones that make up your asphalt surface, you know it’s time to seal it up. A few rules apply before you seal, however. For starters, never seal a new asphalt driveway. Asphalt needs a minimum of six months for the oils in it to evaporate. The less oil, the harder the driveway, which is the goal. If you apply driveway sealer before your asphalt has time to cure, it won’t achieve the necessary hardness and all your work will be for naught. Other things to consider are the outside temperature, which must be fifty degrees or higher for the sealer to adhere properly, and the weather. Ideally, you want your sealer to be on your driveway for at least 48 hours before any rain comes down on it.

Talk to a Professional
Driveway sealing is an important aspect of asphalt driveway maintenance, however, it’s not the only thing you need to keep up on. If your driveway has pre-existing cracks, potholes or other signs of wear, it’s vital that you fix those problems before you apply a sealant. That being the case, your best bet is to contact a professional that won’t only apply your sealant, but who will also evaluate your driveway for other maintenance needs that need to be addressed before you perform this necessary task.

Article Source: https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/how-to-protect-your-driveway/

Asphalt Pavement Maintenance Planning

Do you have an asphalt maintenance plan in place for your facility? As asphalt surfaces age, erode and become brittle, proper periodic assessment and treatments are essential in maintaining a quality surface and infrastructure. The appropriate course of action can save time and money by making sure the maintenance applications are matched to the severity of the pavement problems.

Understanding Defects

There are typically three types of asphalt failures: Surface, Bond, and Structural Failures. For surface failures, there can be raveling, and transverse or longitudinal cracking problems. Raveling is the loss of aggregate from the surface as a result of abrading action from wheels. Longitudinal cracks run in the direction of traffic and transverse cracks are 90 degrees to longitudinal cracks. Longitudinal cracks are typically caused by shrinkage.

Bonding failures are usually in the form of slippage between two layers of surfacing causing cracks in the upper layer. In some cases the combination of bonding and crack failures causes the top layer to flake off in chunks.

The most severe defects are structural cracking which can include fatigue cracking and rutting. Fatigue cracking results from the surface being flexed up and down from heavy loads going by. The cracks are very close together and look like an alligator's skin. This defect occurs when the underlying road section can no longer support the loads being applied to the pavement. One heavy truck can flex and damage a road more than thousands of cars passing over the same spot. Rutting is a depression of the pavement in the wheel path and is usually continuous throughout the pavement. It can occur in just the asphalt layer or throughout the entire infrastructure of asphalt, base, and soil.

Types of Treatments

The different types of actions one can choose will vary with the defects and extent of damage found on the pavement surface. The potential solutions can include surface seal coats, crack filling, slurry seals, selective dig-outs and patching, or full overlays.

Within the use of surface seal coats, there are several to choose from. They include slurry, cape, micro-surfacing, fog, and rubberized chip seals to name a few. A fog seal contains no aggregate or sand and is spray applied to keep the surface aggregate in place. A surface seal coat is a mixture of sand and asphalt emulsion with other fillers. It provides a uniform black surface and protects from UV damage and reduces water intrusion. A slurry seal consists of emulsified asphalt binder, a graded fine aggregate additive, and water and is applied by machines with pressure.

An overlay is used over the top of an existing pavement surface to strengthen and protect the original structure. It can be applied at various thicknesses and also can be rubberized. Sometimes milling is required before the overlay when excessive heights are an issue to prevent any potential trip hazards. Also, the use of paving grids and fabrics over the top of an existing cracked pavement can provide additional strength and water intrusion protection.

Choosing a Plan of Action

Parking lots primarily utilize asphalt seal coats, slurry seals and sand seals. These seals are designed for use in areas that will have constant turning forces. The oils are harder than chip and cape seal oils and lessen tire marking on the pavement.

Streets generally utilize slurry, chip, cape seals or micro-surfacing. These treatments vary depending on the conditions of the road. Crack filling and dig-out repairs must be completed prior to the placement of the surface treatments to obtain the maximum performance life.

So you can see there are various failures modes from minor surface issues to major structural failures and there are a wide variety of treatments to deal with them. Plus following an overall maintenance plan through the lifecycle of the pavement will help prevent early failure and maintain the asset through its expected lifetime. The best way to get started is to have an asphalt engineering firm or quality asphalt contractor assess your situation and provide guidance on what the most economical course of action would be for your situation.

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Parking Lot Striping and Maintenance Increases Customer Safety

In business, it is important to always put your best foot forward, and that step can start with fresh parking lot striping. Fresh paint provides a good first impression for arriving customers. Faded and cracked lines, potholes, and crumbling chocks are not only an eyesore, but can also be a safety hazard as well. To ensure customers can park their cars with ease and navigate the car park without any confusion, regular maintenance is crucial.

Clear parking lot striping will not only help visitors navigate easily, but well-planned spacing can also help maximize a small area, squeezing in extra spots for cars so that you don't unintentionally lose business. Most car parks are also required by local regulations to meet certain codes which include a specific number of designated handicap spaces for disabled individuals (how many will depend on the location and size of the area). These will require an extra wide border to be clearly marked, allowing for room to remove wheelchairs or other necessary mobility devices. Codes may also require specific stenciling and marked fire lanes.

If the area is jointly operated by several businesses, it can be helpful to designate specific spots directly in front of doors exclusively to one shop. This is particularly useful for quick-stop stores located next to businesses with longer transactions such as restaurants or movie theaters. Keeping a few spaces free and marked for fifteen minutes or less is another way to keep traffic flowing, turning away fewer customers during peak periods. Spaces can be stencil-painted and bordered in a different color to distinguish it from others.

Proper parking lot striping is also a valuable safety tool that can help you cut back on collisions, slip and falls, or other potential hazards. In addition to keeping the paint fresh and direction arrows clear to improve traffic flow, consider re-paving the entire car park if it is extremely damaged. Large holes and cracks can not only damage vehicles, but people can fall and hurt themselves. And if it happened on your property, you may have a lawsuit on your hands. Smashed chocks are another common problem that is often overlooked. Chocks are the bumpers located between spaces or in front of sidewalks to prevent vehicles from moving too far. Over time, the constant stress from car bumps, or even just a single hard hit can result in them cracking and shifting. The rubble left behind can be dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists.

Parking lot striping professionals generally offer several other benefits in addition to their painting skills. Included in their services are often a cleaning of the area using power washing to lift and blast away long-standing grime, a basic warranty covering unexpected fading or stains for the first few months or longer, and help re-planning the area if needed. Most paints are fast-drying, so you won't have to worry about closing off the area for long. Always choose a company that is licensed, experienced, and fully insured so that you will receive quality work that you can depend on. For information about their services, go to www.articlesrx.com [http://www.articlesrx.com].

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