About asphalt paving: Roads and driveways are essential parts of our routines, but we often overlook them until some unbearable potholes and cracks infuriate you. When the right material is used, then we do not get to complain about poor roads. So what is this right material that guarantees durability, appearance and is budget-friendly? Asphalt. Additionally, it is environmentally friendly and can be installed quickly. Asphalt paving is very beneficial to the roads and driveways paved with asphalt and to the environment. There are four main categories of asphalt that are used in paving roads and driveways.

• Cold mix asphalt. It is mainly used in repairing potholes. It stays soft in cold temperatures and can repel water. The manufacture of this mix is simple; therefore, it can be made at almost any temperature.
• Porous asphalt has tiny holes that help manage stormwater, making it friendly to the environment. The water travels underneath the ground and undergoes natural cleansing processes. What’s more, this type of paving can offer you business tax benefits.
• Warm mix asphalt, manufactured at around 250 degrees Fahrenheit, requires more binding material and fewer fossil fuels than hot mix asphalt. It is also less costly than hot mix asphalt.
• Hot mix asphalt is the most commonly used asphalt. It is manufactured at 300 degrees Fahrenheit and is categorized into dense-graded mixes, open grade mixes, and stone matrix.

Asphalt paving has many benefits that make it a good solution for paving. It is recyclable; in fact, the mix of recycled asphalt is stronger than the original asphalt mix, lasts longer, and is highly resistant to rut. this is durable, cost-efficient, and good for water drainage. Asphalt pavement also helps in noise reduction and is safe by helping in skid resistance and quick melting of snow. The projects for asphalt paving installation are also quick.

Despite asphalt paving having very many benefits, it is prone to imperfections just like any other material used in construction. Some damages are associated with asphalt, such as depressions that hold water on the pavement and cause more damage later on. Base failure can result from a lot of weight on one area, poor drainage, no support, or an error during installation. Potholes are other damages that occur on asphalt paving. Cracks are also subdivided into more categories like alligator cracking, edge cracks, slippage cracks, longitudinal, block, and transverse cracking.

The good news is that these damages can be prevented. They can be fixed using various repair techniques like crack filling, seal coating, milling, patching, and overlay in instances where they occur. Commonwealth paving offers all these repairs and a very detailed process of the new installation of asphalt paving. The process contains seven steps, from demolition and removal of the previously used material to smoothening and compacting the asphalt material once laid. Commonwealth paving uses different equipment like flatliners, graders, stabilizers, drones, sweepers, rollers, asphalt pavers, and milling machines. Commonwealth paving is at your service; whether repairs or installation, quality is on its way.

What is Asphalt Paving?

Asphalt is a combination of approximately 95% stone, sand, or gravel (aggregate) bound together by liquid asphalt, a product of crude oil. The aggregate serves as the wearing course and the liquid asphalt is the “glue” that holds it all together. Liquid asphalt is solid at ambient temperature.

When heated to roughly 300 degrees, the liquid asphalt becomes liquid which allows for the aggregate and the liquid asphalt to be combined and mixed. This process is performed at an asphalt plant. The resulting asphalt is loaded into trucks for transport to the paving site.

The trucks dump the asphalt into the hopper located on the front of the paving machine. The asphalt is placed by the paving machine and then compacted using a heavy roller, which is driven over the asphalt. Paving and compaction must be performed while the asphalt is sufficiently hot. Traffic is generally permitted on the asphalt.