Installing a high quality asphalt overlay is not only the most cost effective way to preserve your lot or driveway, but it also provides many attributes that other materials cannot.
The Benefits of Installing Flexible Pavements:
– A flexible pavement (Asphalt) is paved at a very low thickness which keeps installation cost lower than rigid pavements (concrete). Typically, asphalt overlays are done when the original surface has deteriorated to the point where it needs repairing.
Benefits of Using Flexible Pavements
Asphalt Pavement (AP) is a composition of rocks, sand, and liquid asphalt cement. AP has been the most widely used pavement material in the United States since the early 20th century. Asphalt pavements are flexible pavements and are generally composed of mineral aggregate coated with asphalt cement binder. They are flexible because they deflect under load, and they offer high resistance to deformation and fatigue cracking. The most common asphalt pavement is hot mix asphalt (HMA).
What Are the Benefits of Asphalt Pavement?
The biggest benefit of using asphalt pavement is that it is cost effective. A study conducted by NAPA shows that AP provides a savings of $100 billion per year in construction, maintenance, travel delays and environmental costs over other pavement types. In addition, AP is recyclable and hence reduces waste to landfills significantly compared to other pavements. The use of recycled materials and reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) also contribute in making this sustainable option more affordable. Furthermore, AP is made with natural materials such as crushed rock and limestone which are abundantly available in nature thus making it an environmentally friendly solution. Here are some additional benefits:
Benefits of Using Flexible Pavements
One major benefit of flexible pavements is the ability to absorb and direct the energy from heavy loads to the supporting layers below, thus protecting against cracking. This is a function of both the asphalt-aggregate mixture and the structural design (i.e., thickness). Asphalt pavement is also highly resistant to rutting and shoving under heavy loads because it distributes these loads over a wider area beneath the wheel path. The resistance of asphalt pavements to rutting is enhanced by both the high viscosity of asphalt binders at high temperatures and their ability to be mixed with high-viscosity, hard asphalts that provide increased resistance to permanent deformation. In addition, flexible pavements provide greater resistance to fatigue cracking than rigid pavements because of asphalt’s ability to deform without breaking under repeated loadings. Flexible pavements are less susceptible to reflective cracking due to thermal curling than are rigid pavements because the flexible pavement layers can absorb more stress than the rigid pavement’s thin surface layer before cracking occurs.
Asphalt is flexible, which means that it moves with the ground instead of cracking. As we all know, cracks in cement and concrete can be a nightmare to repair. With asphalt, there are fewer cracks because it moves with the ground. Asphalt is also waterproof, as opposed to cement. This means that water cannot penetrate under the asphalt and cause damage or erosion to the underlying layers of your roadway or parking lot.
Another benefit to installing asphalt pavements is cost-savings. Asphalt pavement costs less initially than concrete pavement. In addition, as time goes on and repairs are needed, asphalt proves to be a more economical choice over concrete.
Pavement specialists understand how important it is for you to keep costs down while still making sure your parking lot or roadway is safe and usable for your customers and employees. For this reason, they often recommend an Asphalt Pavement Overlay (APO) when repairing a damaged roadway or parking lot. With an APO, you can use your existing parking lot or roadway as the base of your new asphalt road surface. This will save you not only money in materials but also in labor costs as well!
So, you are the decision maker for your company and you have the responsibility of determining how to pave your parking lot. You know that asphalt is a cost-effective, durable and attractive paving material, but you want to make sure it is the best option for your project.
Here are 3 of the many benefits you get when you choose a flexible pavement:
1. Cost Effective: Asphalt is an economical choice for paving and can be installed for about half the cost of concrete. Asphalt also requires little maintenance and lasts up to 30 years, resulting in even more savings over time.
2. Durable: Due to its multi-layered structure, asphalt is a flexible pavement that absorbs impact well and can withstand heavy loads without cracking or crumbling under pressure. It also effectively withstands temperature fluctuations, which helps prevent cracking in extreme heat or cold. (read more)
Flexible pavements are the most common type of pavement found on highways, roads, and runways. They consist of a series of layers, each of which is used to improve the performance. A flexible pavement is one that has layers that can be deformed under traffic loads without cracking. The most common flexible pavement design includes a gravel base, an asphalt base (binder) course, and one or more asphalt surface courses.
Flexible pavements are adaptable to changing conditions due to their ability to deform and recover under changing loads. They are used in all types of climates because they do not require expansion joints like rigid pavements.
There are several advantages for using flexible pavements instead of rigid pavements:
1. Flexible pavements may have lower initial costs than rigid pavements because they require less labor to construct and less expensive materials than rigid pavements. Because of this, flexible pavements are usually used for low-volume and low-speed roads in rural areas.
2. Flexible pavements have a smooth riding surface because it does not have joints like rigid pavements do. Also, the asphalt layer is able to resist rutting from heavy vehicles which results in a smoother ride for cars driving over them.
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Asphalt pavement is the flexible pavement of choice for roads, driveways and parking lots. Asphalt cement is an essential ingredient that gives asphalt pavements the flexibility to withstand repeated cycles of stress caused by traffic loading and environmental conditions. The binder (asphalt cement) holds the aggregate particles together so they can resist deformation when loaded.