Asphalt tips

[Beercan321]

I am going to get some bids to have my gravel driveway replaced with asphalt. I am curious if there are any specific types of asphalt or additives that are needed for a driveway.

With concrete things like PSI, types of reinforcement (wire mesh, rebar, fiber mesh) etc all affect the final product. I’m curious if there are similar things with asphalt. I’ve seen asphalt driveways that are 20 years old that look great while other driveways that are only a few years old are cracking and falling apart. There obviously is some reason why some asphalt driveways last a long time while others crack apart.

Any tips, material or additives that I should know about prior to getting bids would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

-- My driveway is 280 feet long with a parking area at the back. Using concrete for this project would be very expensive so that’s why I’m considering asphalt.

 

[Toomanytools?]

Don't know much but there are different types mostly temperture at which it is installed and size of aggregate used. Small agg gives smooth surface but weaker, large agg stronger. Hot mix asphalt concrete (HMAC) is what I think most roads are. You can Google asphalt and get some ideas. Make sure you have a good base and compacted. Here asphalt is way more, than concrete and maintenance is higher with asphalt.

 

[tlmartin84]

Asphalt is same as concrete........compaction compaction and compaction on the subgrade. I would also pay a engineering/testing company for an hour of their time just to come out and do a density test on the compaction of the asphalt. A lot of the smaller asphalt companies don't do this and have no idea how well it is getting compacted.

For commercial/government roads we lay down 4" of type 1 base, 2" of type 2 base, and 1" of type 1 wearing.....thats a typical spec.

For a residential or my own drive way I would go with 3" of type 2 base...nothing else. Then seal it well every couple of years with a filler and sealer......fills the pours...

Thats my 0.02c

Oh and there isn't any reinforcement in it. There are some different mix designs outside of the three I mentioned above for special situations. But those are the typicals......

 

[Beaumont67]

Pavement Structure
http://www.asphaltwa.com/2010/09/17/pavement-structure/

 

[Mister Moose]

Asphalt has far less tensile strength than concrete. Especially when it get hot in the summer.

There are several reasons asphalt cracks and breaks up:

1) A weak base underneath that can't take the weight. You should have 6" minimum of a crushed process gravel layer underneath, well compacted. 9" for heavy traffic.

2) Water is your enemy. You must design the driveway to be well drained. If you live where there is frost, any water in the soil will expand, heave, and break up your driveway. You can elevate the drive, or place curtain drains along side to control ground water

3) Sunlight eventually dries out and makes the asphalt brittle.

4) Tree roots will crack it easily.

For that long a driveway, calculate how many cubic yards and then how many tons are required. Make sure this much gets delivered from the plant. Ask for copies of the scale tickets. Some pavers will scrimp, tell you 3", but it isn't.

Placement should be done HOT, like 275 degrees. These days laser thermometers are cheap, go buy one. Ask an engineer, or do some googling on the minimum temperature to be coming out of the truck into the spreader. If you are the last driveway of the day, the mix might be getting cold. If it is placed too cold, you will never get the right compaction.

Do not pave when the ground temp is below 50 degrees.

This is not a place to go with the low bidder.

 

[WVBrady]

Have you checked on the cost of concrete? Around here, at least at one time, they were about the same cost.

 

[nmanitou]

Selecting an asphalt mix is highly dependent on your location and the available materials. Talk to local pavers about the mixes available in your area. Just like concrete, the asphalt "mix design" will select the proper ratio of stone to sand to bituminous.

Base preparation is EVERYTHING. Here is a link to a newsletter my company produced about selecting the right mix. It's written for Michigan (MDOT) so the mix names and designations won't mean much if you're not in Michigan, but the general concepts are valid for you to consider when you talk to your paver.

http://www.goslingczubak.com/UserFiles/File/AsphaltMixSelection.pdf

 

[Elaheh]

The best material for the driveway is bitumen (asphalt). A bitumen driveway is flexible so it will not crack as readily as other types of driveways.

The mixture and materials are very important. For avoiding any mistakes, try to provide the materials yourself. You need high-quality material from a well-known supplier of bitumen, bitumen grads like bitumen 60/70 or 80/100 are ideal.
Pay attention to the fact that driveway paving contractor may get “the-mix-of-the-day” from the local hot mix plant. This material may not be suited for driveways.

 

[nadogail]

An asphalt driveway will require periodic maintenance, like slurry sealing, every few years. The concrete sidewalk in front of my house was poured and finished over 100 years ago.

 

[58Yeoman]

I bought my place in 2008, the ~180' blacktop driveway was already in place, and already cracking/heaving. I'm on the side of a hill, so water was the problem. I sealed it every couple years, finally giving up and having it tar/chip covered. The pebbles look good, but are messy and move around a lot. I would've rather had concrete, although blacktop heats up in the winter and melts the snow. What state are you in?

 

[brownbagg]

aspahlt heats and cools every day, it needs to be compacted constantly, asphalt is good for roadways but no driveways, not enough traffic to keep in good shape, so it will have to be repaved about every ten years

 

[hippie2cams]

best tip I can give you is forget asphalt and pay for concrete driveway. make sure they put in steel reinforcement, and it will last longer than you. put in asphalt and you will be doing forever

 

[58Yeoman]

best tip I can give you is forget asphalt and pay for concrete driveway. make sure they put in steel reinforcement, and it will last longer than you. put in asphalt and you will be doing forever

Yeah, before I had mine oiled and chipped, they quoted me about $25,000 to take out the old asphalt and put in concrete. Wish the PO had put in concrete.

 

[TerryH]

We had ours done in asphalt 10 years ago. There is maintenance. Very important to have any cracks filled and it'll need to be sealed every few years. We've only had ours sealed once since new but have crack fill done every couple of years. Prices vary greatly but asphalt was less than half concrete in our area when we did ours.

 

[fang123]

aspahlt heats and cools every day, it needs to be compacted constantly, asphalt is good for roadways but no driveways, not enough traffic to keep in good shape, so it will have to be repaved about every ten years

Ummm, NO.

 

[TerryH]

Ummm, NO.

Exactly! Ours is 10 years old and still performing great. As I stated above, there is maintenance but with that it appears to me that it should last indefinitely.

 

[Seagoon]

Why did someone resurrect a thread from 2012?

 

[TerryH]

Why did someone resurrect a thread from 2012?

lol... Apparently we never learn to look at the dates.

 

[firebirdparts]

It's a spammer getting his post count up. Nice post, oddly enough.

 

[p00p]

A based prepped to contain a hard bedrock like composition & engineered drainage is what I would settle for with asphalt as well as concrete.
if all you're using the driveway for is to park on, standard small particle asphalt.
Planning on jacking up a vehicle, leaving a boat on a trailer, motorhome, or semi truck parked on it? Concrete would hold up better.

If you have trees or bushes near the area thats getting the asphalt, you'll want to remove the root system.