The Uses of Asphalt Concrete

Asphalt is also known as blacktop, Pavement or Asphalt concrete. It is a kind of concrete or composite material used in the paving of roads, parking lots, residential areas, commercial areas, airports etc. Asphalt paving is a combination of mineral aggregate combined together with the asphalt/ composite materials, laid in layers and compacted with heavy machinery fed from a dump truck.

It is one of the best options and the most versatile pavement material when it comes to installing a residential paving or commercial paving. Its Pavement structures can be designed to handle any load, from passenger cars to heavy trucks and airplanes.

This is because a properly installed residential asphalt or commercial asphalt paving will perform much like concrete but at a much cheaper rate. As such a well constructed one should last a minimum of about twenty years with a good timely maintenance.

It should have an adequate drainage system to withstand the effects of weather and traffic. This is because water is an enemy to asphalt paving. Asphalt residential paving or asphalt commercial paving can also be designed using porous asphalt a particular asphalt mix that allows water to drain through the pavement into a subgrade reservoir.

Porous asphalt can often be used to meet local impermeable surfaces codes and they offer a good-looking surface that is easy to maintain too. And a poorly designed and constructed one falls apart in less than one year. Since asphalt concrete is a petroleum product, it is more flexible and less inclined to cracking than concrete.

Asphalt concrete is durable and very useful in the reduction of noise pollution around your home or residential area. In addition, it is also smooth, safe, and quiet. Surface mixes can be customized to reduce splash and spray during rainstorms, and even to help treat rain water.

For an Asphalt paving to perform well, it must have an adequate structural capacity to enable it carry the in-service loads. A thicker paving is required for more heavily loaded areas. And this solely depends on the subgrade which is the core foundation of the paving. The subgrade must be free of topsoil, it shouldn’t be wet, It should have no vegetation, and any soft spots.

Soft spots found on the subgrade should be entirely removed and replace with a good soil and should be well compacted to avoid structural damages in no time. A good residential asphalt paving should have an aggregate base layer of about 6 to 8 inches compacted on top of the subgrade and paving should be done only when weather conditions are favorable.

Avoid a cold or rainy weather because asphalt paving needs the temperature to hot during installation process .Whether on the road, in a parking lot, or at an airport, asphalt pavements add up to the best value for the taxpayer dollar, with the lowest life cycle cost and the highest residual value.