Pavement is typically a tough, smoothly surfaced, but slightly porous outdoor surface covering used on public thoroughfares and roadways as well as a low cost alternative for many common cast concrete applications such as playing fields for tennis or outdoor basketball. Depending on the pavement product’s ingredients, the ground preparation, the amount of vehicles, the weight of those vehicles and numerous other factors the durability of your pavement could exceed decades although most property owners will still have a little Pavement Maintenance performed before then.
Pavement is made from asphalt, sometimes known as pitch. Early blends were made from natural deposits of pitch so the consistency often varied while modern asphalt pavement is made from petroleum products in specific recipes. This allows manufacturers to create batches of asphalt for specific purposes. For example, the moister asphalt used to build courts is designed to cure quickly and pack densely. This is useful when it time to clean the court with a little Pavement Maintenance in Worcester, MA.
Large paved areas such as parking lots, tennis courts and basketball courts can begin to show their age quickly as the oils in the asphalt dry. These cracks start out as tiny stress fractures that spread as players pound on the asphalt or the ground under the pavement shifts after heavy rains. To eliminate the ugly stress cracks, Pavement Maintenance in Worcester, MA, will apply a thin layer of new asphalt over the old pavement. The new stuff will fill the old cracks while the heat from the application allows it to blend with the existing pavement.
It’s only in rare cases where the asphalt is really old, brittle or excessively damaged that the old product will need to be removed. In these cases a thrifty contractor like New England Seal Coating can recycle the old asphalt for use as a base for new products. This technique is common on many road repair projects and saves our government a lot of money over the course of those repairs. Watching Pavement Maintenance in Worcester, MA, is a memorable experience and many children will fondly recall watching the steam rollers smoothing the surfaces while the family sits idly by, waiting for their chance to move past the construction.
