Spring has sprung–are your pavements ready for the new season?
From machinery to paving time to materials, there’s quite a lot that you need to know to pave your parking lot.
If you’re looking to refresh your asphalt, here are three tips to help you get started.
1. Proper Paver Setup = Smooth Pavement
Many people forget than an essential component of good pavement actually comes from your machinery. Neglect your machinery, and it will neglect your parking lot.
Before a single second of work begins, make sure to check your paving machine and its component parts.
Check the fluid levels. Then, start the machine and check all the gauges. If everything looks good, you’re ready to begin.
You’re not done, though. you still need to check your machine throughout the day and apply a coating solution to any components that come in contact with asphalt during work hours. This will keep the asphalt from sticking to the metal.
If you need a good safety and maintenance checklist, check out this sheet.
2. The Devil’s in the Details
As with the paving machine, the devil’s in the details when it comes to paving a parking lot.
For example, are you integrating old pavement into the new pavement? If so, you need to start with precision saw cutting.
Have you thought about the base of your pavement? You should–a gravel base is key to a sound asphalt pavement.
If you want your pavement to survive the weather, you’ll also need to think about drainage. There are two components of drainage:
- Subgrade drainage
- Surface drainage
If you have good drainage on the surface but poor drainage in the subgrade, your pavement will be just as damaged (if not more so) than it would have been without drainage.
3. Maintain Good Paver Speed
Finally, it seems basic, but when you’re paving a lot, it’s important to keep your paving machine at a good, constant speed.
It might not seem like a big deal, but if your machine is moving inconsistently, this can create ripples and irregularities in the mat depth of your lot. These leave your lot structurally unsound and force you to deal with more pavement maintenance costs than you might have otherwise.
Ideally, your pavement operation should go nonstop for the entire day until the whole job is done. This way, you won’t have to worry about inconsistencies from stopping and starting your machines–plus, it keeps the whole operation moving in a timely fashion.
Looking for Asphalt Paving?
Paving asphalt is an undertaking, but that doesn’t mean you need to fight an uphill battle for a clean, smooth parking lot.
Don’t waste your time with contractors who waste your money. If you’re looking to repave your lot, go to the pros. We offer the best asphalt paving, overlay, and maintenance services in Maryland, and we’re ready to help you make your cracked, worn-out parking lot a thing of the past.
If you need asphalt paving (or other paving services) don’t wait. Use our contact page to get in touch.
