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Posts Tagged ‘Winter asphalt maintenance’

How Freeze-Thaw Cycles Can Damage Asphalt Pavement

Friday, October 18th, 2019
An asphalt road covered in a light snowfall.

The freeze-thaw cycles of winter can damage your asphalt if you don’t take these precautions.

You may have noticed that asphalt work is almost always best done during the warmer months of spring and summer. This is because the binder in the asphalt is liquid at high temperatures (and easier to work), and it hardens in cold weather. In the freezing temperatures of winter, asphalt hardens enough that it becomes brittle. This means that it is easier to break, especially when it is subjected to repeated freeze-thaw cycles.  (more…)

Winter Asphalt Maintenance

Thursday, January 9th, 2014

‘Tis the season for winter asphalt maintenance.

Winter is here and it has been harsh these past few weeks. Burr! Freezing temperatures, rain, snow, and, of course, ice. While this is great news for your son or daughter – after all, what child doesn’t love a snow day – it can be a nightmare for business owners and property managers. Winter can wreak havoc on a business.

First of all, when it snows, your employees, let alone customers and clients, cannot make it to your business. This means downtime, which costs you money. Then there is snow removal, which costs you money. Nothing is free in this world. And to make matters worse, you could discover a completely new issue once the snow has been plowed: asphalt damage.

Winter Asphalt Maintenance

As you asphalt ages, it will begin to develop tiny cracks. This is natural. However, if you ignore these cracks, water will penetrate deep down into asphalt, softening the stone base. This can lead to alligator cracking / spider webbing, pot holes, and other forms of pavement degradation. When you add freezing cold temperatures to the mix, this degradation process is accelerated by what is known as the Freeze Thaw Effect.

When water penetrates asphalt cracks in the winter, it freezes, expands, and widens these asphalt cracks. This happens numerous times over the course of a winter, worsening asphalt cracks each and every time and degrading your asphalt surface from the inside out, leading to cracks, pot holes, and premature asphalt failure.

“Any time you have weather where it is 60 degrees one day and 20 degrees the next, you’re going to have a significant impact on the pavement,” said Rob Morosi, Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman.

Winter Asphalt Maintenance

There are several preventative maintenance tasks, like sealcoating, property managers and homeowners can take to extend the useful life of their asphalt. Timely repairs are also extremely important. If you notice a crack, pothole, or other form of asphalt damage, it is important to have it repaired quickly to avoid the issue worsening. This is why you need to pick up the phone and call PTG Enterprises at the first sign of damage. The asphalt paving experts at PTG have managed hundreds of Maryland, DC, and Virginia pavement projects and have the experience you need. You can expect a fair proposal, professionalism, and quality work. A good contractor is hard to find!

Trust your asphalt to a contractor with a proven track record of success, a contractor like Patrick Gillen of PTG Enterprises.

If you have any questions about Winter Asphalt Maintenance or if you are looking for an asphalt contractor in the Baltimore, Maryland area, please contact PTG Enterprises aka My Pavement Guy today by calling 410-636-8777, or click here today! You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

Asphalt Parking Lot Maintenance

Friday, December 9th, 2011

While your parking surface may look rugged and indestructible, it’s not (trust us). This is why regular asphalt pavement maintenance is important. Without such maintenance, your asphalt surface will slowly begin to crumble away. On the other hand, with proper asphalt maintenance, your parking lot will last for years (maybe even decades) to come.

Preventative asphalt maintenance tasks include:

•     Preventing the surface and underlying infiltration bed from becoming clogged with fine sediment.

•     Your parking lot pavement surface should be vacuumed at least twice a year with a vacuum sweeper.

•     If routine vacuum sweeping proves ineffective, wash your pavement with clean, low-pressure water followed by immediate vacuuming.

•     Maintain the landscape surrounding your asphalt. This will hopefully prevent soil washout onto the parking surface.

•     If soil washout occurs, clean up immediately.

Winter asphalt maintenance:

•     Never use sand or abrasives because they will clog the pores of your asphalt. Instead, use deicing materials.

•     When plowing, set the blade an inch higher than normal. This will prevent unnecessary damage.

If damage still occurs to your asphalt parking lot and it is in desperate need of a little TLC, contact an experienced asphalt company today – a company like PTG Enterprises. The asphalt experts here have managed hundreds of repair 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:

Parking Lot Maintenance For Porous Asphalt Pavement