ASPHALT REPAIRS & PAVEMENT OVERLAYS

Asphalt Concrete – AC

Often times the most expensive part of asphalt maintenance is asphalt repairs. The high cost of materials, the challenge of finding a dump site, and increasing fuel prices make the cost of repairs hard to predict and control. GBR PAVING incorporates the latest technologies (such as grind load machines), as well as unique relationships with suppliers to give you a distinct advantage in scheduling and lowest cost of ownership. GBR PAVING is one of the complete pavement maintenance firms, with over 20 years in the business, we are exceptionally qualified to design, scope, and build the most cost effective solutions for your budget. We can provide scope that will ensure a quality bid process. Long term planning solutions are just one of the advantages you get with GBR PAVING and our asphalt crews can handle any size repair job, including:

Remove and Replace
Deep Lift Patching
Trench Repairs

Pulverization in Place
Asphalt Berms
Grind and Load

AC Overlay

An overlay or resurface can be used on an asphalt driveway, parking lot, or road way. It consists of installing a new layer of asphalt over the existing asphalt and grinding at the transitions (sidewalks, garages, drains, curbs, or other asphalt points). A paving surface can be deteriorated but still maintain structural integrity in which an asphalt overlay is the proper solution. An existing asphalt surface is the best base for new asphalt. Damaged or troubled areas are repaired before the installation of asphalt. Sometimes all that is required is a leveling course, which is a thin layer of asphalt that is installed to take out any dips or low areas before the finishing course is installed. A tack coat is normally applied on the existing asphalt surface to help the new asphalt adhere to the existing surface. An overlay is usually installed at an average depth of 1.5” to 2” inches thick depending on the project. Overlays are normally cheaper in price and deliver same quality and strength as other asphalt options.

AC Remove and Replace

A remove and replace is exactly how it sounds, the existing asphalt is excavated or removed which reveals the gravel base. If there are any areas where the sub base is soft they will need to be undercut then fine graded to proper grade. An undercut is an area that needs to be fully excavated and backfilled with aggregate. Undercuts usually range in depth but for the most part are 8” inches in depth. After the existing asphalt is removed and the sub base is properly repaired a new layer of asphalt is applied and compacted to proper thickness. A remove and replace is more expensive and should only be considered if the existing drive is weakened by the structural integrity of the sub base, if there is a drainage issue that needs fixed, or if there are elevation issues. A remove and replace can be a great long term solution for your asphalt needs.

Petromat

Petromat, a brand name for what is properly termed Pavement Reinforcement Fabric (PRF) Petromat is a non-woven polypropylene fabric. When used in combination with an asphalt tack coat, the Petromat System forms an asphalt membrane interlayer within the pavement section.

This layer acts as a barrier to surface water infiltration and limits softening of the sub grade and freeze-thaw damage, which could otherwise occur. The Petromat membrane interlayer also absorbs stresses, improving resistance to pavement fatigue and reflective cracking.

Its purpose is to retard crack reflection in asphalt pavement overlays, and to retard water penetration into the pavement’s sub-grade when cracks reappear, it is not a cure-all for cracks in asphalt pavement. The owner should expect to see some hairline reflective cracks (cracks above where cracks existed in the prior surface) within the first year of installation. The cracks will increase over time, but the water-retardant properties of the PRF will keep surface run-off out of the structural asphalt base (sub-grade).

What is Effective?

When used in common interest developments, PRF can extend a pavement’s life for 10 to 15 years. It is also important that the existing asphalt pavement be stable and of an adequate thickness. The edges of the existing pavement must be milled down to accommodate the installation of an overlay. If the existing pavement is too thin or weak to accommodate the milling process and construction process, then a PRF overlay is out of the question. Further, if the existing pavement is too old, excessively cracked, already had a PRF installed, or shows signs of serious sub-grade failure; it is not a good candidate for a PRF overlay. A civil engineer or expert should be consulted to assist in evaluating an existing pavement’s eligibility for the installation.

Is it Hazardous?

PRF is not hazardous to anyone’s health. What have become controversial about the material are the difficulties that can be encountered when it is removed. At some point, a PRF will be removed when the entire asphalt section is ground out. Unfortunately, PRF is considered a contaminant. If found in asphalt millings, there will be additional charges for disposal of the material when it is received from the work site, at the asphalt recycling plant. In some cases, it is flat out rejected, causing disposal costs to skyrocket. This is because the PRF melts when heated in an asphalt plant, and it adheres to.

Every driveway is different and factors such as surrounding elevations, drainage and use of paved surface can help determine the correct course of action. Please contact GBR PAVING for an appointment with one of our asphalt professionals to determine the correct solution for your project.

AC Milling, Pulverizing, & Stabilization

Often times the most expensive part of asphalt maintenance is asphalt repairs. The high cost of materials, the challenge of finding a dump site, and increasing fuel prices make the cost of repairs hard to predict and control. GBR PAVING incorporates the latest technologies (such as grind load machines), as well as unique relationships with suppliers to give you a distinct advantage in scheduling and lowest cost of ownership. GBR PAVING is one of the complete pavement maintenance firms, with over 20 years in the business, we are exceptionally qualified to design, scope, and build the most cost effective solutions for your budget. We can provide scope that will ensure a quality bid process. Long term planning solutions are just one of the advantages you get with GBR PAVING and our asphalt crews can handle any size repair job, including:

Asphalt Milling

Asphalt milling is easy to confuse with pulverizing, since both fundamentally involve pulling up and crushing existing pavement. Milling, however, is a recycling and re-paving procedure, aimed at removing the top layer of asphalt from a street, parking lot or driveway without disturbing the sub-base.

A large machine, called a cold planer, slowly drives down the street, trailing a drumhead covered in spikes that dig into the asphalt, rip it up, and capture it. A series of conveyor belts carry the milled asphalt to waiting trucks, and then the reclaimed asphalt is taken back to the plant to be mixed in with new paving.
The milling process leaves the sub-base intact so new asphalt can be installed over top, creating a new, smooth surface that saves both time and money on a paving project. Moreover, recycling the old top surface and by passing a full reconstruction boasts environmental benefits.

Milling is also employed when a roadway has become too elevated, due to repeated repaving, and needs a few inches taken off the top.

Asphalt Pulverizing

Pulverizing is similar to milling, in that a huge machine drives along the roadway, ripping up existing asphalt. Unlike milling, pulverization is the first stage in reusing asphalt to re-pave the same area.

Pulverization leaves several inches of ground-up asphalt where old asphalt paving used to be. This makes it possible to then reform that asphalt into a solid surface, through stabilization.

Asphalt Stabilization

Stabilization is the second part of the process begun through pulverizing. Once the crushed asphalt is left behind, a mixture of tar and other waterproofing and binding agents is overlaid, so that the binding fluid thoroughly mixes in with the crushed asphalt.
After a day or so to harden, the result is a rebuilt asphalt road or driveway – made using a minimum of new material, but every bit as strong and reliable as when the road was laid in the first place. Between pulverizing and stabilization, it’s possible to quickly replace asphalt with a minimum of cost, effort, and traffic disruption.
GBR PAVING uses these and other asphalt processes because of their environmental benefits. To find out more about these asphalt processes Contact GBR PAVING, to learn more about asphalt paving or to have your parking lot, road or driveway paved.

Asphalt Cracks

Cracking in asphalt/concrete is a phenomenon that pavement design and maintenance engineers have had to contend with for years. Fatigue cracking is the principal consideration in pavement maintenance. Cracks are inevitable, and neglect leads to accelerated cracking and/or potholing, further reducing pavement life and serviceability.

The problem of cracks is handled in many ways, ranging from pavement maintenance activities, such as surface treatments (seal coating or road slurry and hot rubberized crack sealing) to full-scale pavement rehabilitation projects, such as resurfacing. Maintenance departments/Property management companies bear most of the burden of dealing with cracks. Agencies with sufficient funding are often responsible for adding a few more years of serviceable life to deteriorated pavements, through preventative or routine maintenance, or both.

One of the more common options exercised by city or state maintenance departments is crack sealing. This operation has been conducted for many years, generally on a routine basis. However, only in the last two decades has its potential benefit as a preventive maintenance tool been realized.

Hot applied rubberized crack sealants should not be confused with cold applied Latex crack fillers that are non-elastic. Due to their non-elastic nature, as seasonal temperatures change, causing the asphalt to expand and contract, these cold applied fillers will re-crack prematurely causing further asphalt deterioration.

Sealing Process

Cleaning

Cracks are cleaned of all dirt, sand and debris using no less than a 185 cfm compressor at 110 psi. This will facilitate adhesion of rubberized material to the asphalt. All vegetation must be removed prior to application of material. It is recommended that a weed sterile and be applied one week before removal to prevent vegetation re-growth.

Heat Lance

All moisture must be removed from cracks to allow proper adhesion of rubberized material. A specialized hot air head lance is required for this purpose. The heat lance accompanied by a 185 cfm compressor produces an air stream velocity of 3,000 ft/sec. and an air temperature of 33,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grinding

Grinding provides for better adhesion of rubberized material to the asphalt crack’s side wall. It also creates a reservoir for rubberized sealants. This reservoir of material will last longer and make for a better quality seal. Cracks 1/8″ to 3/8″ should be ground to a minimum of 1/2″ wide by 1/2″ deep.

Material Application

RW rubberized sealants should be applied in prepared cracks at a temperature of approximately 380 degrees Fahrenheit.

The key of a good condition Parking Lot is Preventative or Routine Maintenance, and proper crack sealing installation. If you have a project to install it contact GBR PAVING to install the CRACK FILLING SYSTEM properly and safely.