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Posts Tagged ‘Potholes’

Commercial Parking Lots, Paving Contractors, and Your Business

Friday, January 20th, 2012

Your business parking lot is the first point of contact your customers/clients have with your business. It is what they will base their first impressions on. Because of this, it is important to keep your parking surface free of oil stains, debris, cracks and potholes. But all the asphalt maintenance in the world won’t make a difference if your asphalt pavement was not properly installed by a qualified pavement contractor.

But before you call a potential asphalt contractor, educate yourself on the important qualities of any good commercial parking surface. These include:

  1. Smooth Integration: If you are expanding an existing parking lot, you want to be sure that your new parking surface blends seamlessly with the old asphalt. Feel free to ask your potential parking lot contractor for photos of a similar job he already completed.
  2. Good Base: Without a proper gravel base, your business parking surface will collapse under the weight of traffic.
  3. Drainage: Water and asphalt are not friends. Proper drainage prevents standing water and long-term damage to your parking lot.
  4. Attention to Detail: A good asphalt professional pays attention to the tiniest of details, ensuring that your parking surface is installed properly.

If you have any further questions, contact an experienced asphalt company today – a company like PTG Enterprises. The asphalt experts here have managed hundreds of pavement projects and have the experience you need. So contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy today by calling 410-636-8777 or click here today!

Give me the opportunity to impress you. I can be your one stop ‘Pavement Guy,’ for any pavement project regardless of size or scope.

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

4 Keys to Quality Commercial Parking Lot Paving

Maryland Sealcoating Service: The Benefits of Sealcoating Your Asphalt Parking Lot

Friday, January 6th, 2012

Asphalt parking lot maintenance is important. But of all the precautions you can take to ensure your parking surface lasts for a long time, sealcoating is perhaps the most important. If applied properly and at the right time, sealcoating provides the following benefits:

Slows Oxidation and Water Penetration: Over exposure to oxygen will harden asphalt binders, resulting in brittle pavement prone to cracking. And cracking allows water to seep into the asphalt sub base, further weakening the entire parking surface. This leads to more cracks, potholes, and eventual total parking lot failure.

Sealcoats fill surface voids, reducing exposure to oxygen and water and prolonging pavement life.

Protects Pavement Against Ultraviolet Rays: The sun’s rays can break the links between carbon bonds and your asphalt. Sealcoat prevent ultraviolet rays from further damaging the asphalt pavement.

Protects Against Spills: Gas and oil spills can soften asphalt, making it more susceptible to other damage. Sealcoating reduces the depth to which oil or gas can penetrate.

Easy to Clean Pavement: Sealcoating results in a smooth, even texture allowing for much easier cleaning.

Increased Pavement Flexibility: Sealcoating keeps your parking lot black. This attracts more heat from the sun, which, in turn, makes your parking surface more pliable and increasingly able it is to withstand traffic volume changes without cracking.

Beauty: Well, this one is a given.

Cost Effective: It is far less expensive to sealcoat your parking lot every few years than it would be to overlay or completely replace your parking surface.

If you have any questions, contact an experienced asphalt company today – a company like PTG Enterprises. The asphalt experts here have managed hundreds of pavement sealcoat projects and have the experience you need. So contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy today by calling 410-636-8777 or click here today!

There are many different options available to property managers and owners today than there were when I started in the Industry. This works to the advantage of the property and to the pavement. Now, depending on the current condition of the asphalt, I have the ability to recommend several different options depending on the condition of the lot, previous maintenance schedules and budgets. The cost of sealcoating is only pennies a square yard versus repairs and rehabilitation which can be as much as twenty times higher.

Give me the opportunity to impress you. I can be your one stop ‘Pavement Guy,’ for any pavement project regardless of size or scope.

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

Asphalt Pavement Maintenance 101

How to Fix Potholes and Uneven Pavement Problems

Friday, November 18th, 2011

Potholes and uneven pavement are not just eyesores on your otherwise immaculate asphalt; they are liabilities. These pavement problems can cause pedestrian accidents, motorcycle and bicycle crashes, and injuries. And guess who is liable for these injuries? YOU, as the property owner, will be held liable for any and all injuries sustained as a result of your improperly maintained pavement.

So protect yourself and others by fixing potholes and uneven pavement surfaces quickly. Here’s how…

Potholes: Potholes are generally caused by failures in the base surface. Because of this, the old asphalt and base must be removed. Then a new base and a new layer of compacted asphalt can be added.

Asphalt patching is the best long-term solution, but filling the pothole with cold-patch asphalt can work in the short term.

Sunken Concrete Panels: This signals that the base course has weakened and needs to be replaced. The old materials need to be stripped and replaced with new, compacted layers of base course and concrete.

Short-term fix: The concrete slabs that are not sunken in can be grinded down until the surface is flush. Since this does not address the cause of the problem, it is only a temporary fix.

Lifted Asphalt and Concrete Panels: This is most likely the result of an intruding tree root under the pavement. To fix this you must remove the pavement, remove the tree root and then repave the surface.

Short-term fix: Grind down the surface.

Of course, if you would rather leave all of this to the professionals, we are here to help. So contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy today by calling 410-636-8777 or click here today!

I can be your one stop ‘Pavement Guy,’ for any pavement project regardless of size or scope. Give me the opportunity to impress you.

Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!

Sources:

Asphalt and Uneven Pavement Surfaces are a Liability

How to Identify Pavement Distress

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

Unfortunately, even the best pavement is not indestructible. Heavy traffic usage and weather changes, along with several other outside factors, can lead to pavement distress, which is noticeable physical damage on roads or sidewalks. If not dealt with quickly, pavement distress can lead to more serious problems, all of which can significantly shorten the lifespan of your pavement.

But how can you spot pavement distress in time? This article from eHow.com explains how you can quickly identify pavement distress.

1.   Assess cracks on the surface of the pavement. Alligator cracking appears as a network of cracks, forming a pattern somewhat like the skin of an alligator or wonky squares. As the U.S. Department of Transportation outlines in its “Pavement Distress Identification Manual for the NPS Road Inventory Program, 2006 -2009,” the severity of the distress can be measured. It is considered low when the width of the crack is less than 1/4 inch in width. However, the alligator distress is serious when the cracks are more than 3/4 inch wide.

2.   Check the pavement’s surface for long strips of cracking. These are ruts that run either along the length of the pavement or sideways across the surface. In places where the cracks are more than 3/4 inch in width, the distress is considered serious and can buckle the pavement, causing bumps. Hot weather can cause this type of pavement distress.

3.   Identify gouged-out areas or dips on the surface of the road. Pavement distress is characterised by potholes. These are concave holes on the surface, which are a nuisance for drivers. The holes can cause punctures in tires, gather water and lead to further cracking.

4.   Look for dark square or rectangular patches of asphalt on the pavement. Distress can be identified by finding discolored areas where potholes or previous distress marks have been filled or covered over. The replacement asphalt causes a dark patch to be seen. Cracking, ruts or potholes can often be seen in proximity to the patching, which is indicative of pavement distress.

5.   Crouch down and look across the surface of the pavement. Identify two lines of depressions in the road’s surface. If these are in the direction of the wheel paths, this distress is called rutting. Rutting occurs when continuous use of the pavement by heavy vehicles causes the surface to sink. It is classified as severe when the depressions are greater than 1 inch below the surface of the pavement.

Once you have identified pavement distress, it is time to repair the damage. There are several products available that allow you to do the job yourself, but if you want to ensure your pavement is properly fixed, it is probably best to call a professional.

If you have any questions or if you would rather leave the repair work to the professionals, contact PTG Enterprises by calling 410-636-8777 or click here