Asphalt maintenance is one component of property management that is ignored on a regular basis. If a property owner observes a hole in their parking lot, it will not get the same urgent treatment, that a hole in their roof would need. Sadly, this disregard for their asphalt results in more expensive repairs down the road that could have been prevented if the property owner had tried to adhere to an asphalt preventative maintenance plan.
What is Asphalt Maintenance?
Asphalt maintenance comprises protecting asphalt by employing certain methods like asphalt seal coating, crack repair, and asphalt repair, to help prevent damage to the existing asphalt.
Why Have Asphalt Seal Coated?
The moment asphalt is put in place, a degrading process begins. When the binder, which keeps the entire aggregate (stone) together, starts to oxidize due to exposure to sunshine, water, and other environmental factors, the asphalt becomes weaker.
Using the seal coating process, the asphaltic binder gets protection from the aforementioned external conditions. One added benefit from asphalt seal coating done by an expert Utah asphalt company is that the asphalt is, now protected from the damaging effects caused by gasoline, oil, and de-icing salts.
Another apparent benefit of asphalt seal coating is that the original color of the asphalt is restored. The asphalt reattains that new appearance for a fraction of the original cost.
What Purpose Is Served By Asphalt Maintenance?
While pavement maintenance schedule will vary from property to property, the overall goal of asphalt maintenance is to preserve, its appeal and prolong its life. The ideal way to manage some asphalt maintenance jobs, like inspections and rubbish removal, is either on your own or with hired help. Others, however, are better left in the capable hands of a qualified Utah asphalt firm.
Typical pavement maintenance should comprise of basic tasks like regular assessments, sweeping, crack filling, pothole repair, periodic line striping, and most of all, seal coating. Without a proper seal coat, asphalt pavements will undergo increased wear and tear from traffic, weather, chemicals, salts, etc.; which shortens their life and decreases their aesthetic value.
Why Know About the Defects that Occur?
There are just 3 types of asphalt failures: Surface, Bond, and Structural Failures. For surface failures, there might be raveling, & transverse or longitudinal cracking issues. Raveling means the loss of aggregate from the surface because of abrading action from wheels. Longitudinal cracks run along the direction of traffic; transverse cracks are 90 degrees from longitudinal cracks. Longitudinal cracks occur because of shrinkage.
Bonding failures are often in the form of slippage between two layers of surfacing leading to cracks in the upper layer. At times the combination of bonding and crack failures induces the top layer to peel in chunks.
A very severe form, of defect, is structural cracking which may involve fatigue cracking and rutting. The surface flexes up and down as a result of strong loads passing through, which causes fatigue cracking. The cracks are quite close together and have the appearance of an alligator’s skin.
When the underlying road segment cannot handle the loads being applied to the pavement, this flaw develops. One heavy truck could flex and damage a road more, than many cars getting past the same spot. Rutting is a depression of the pavement in the wheel path and is normally ceaseless all across a pavement.
The Sum Up
The right way to get started is to have an asphalt company or quality asphalt contractor assess your situation. To sum up the property owners need to incorporate an effective asphalt maintenance strategy.