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 IMPORANT FACTS ABOUT BLACKTOP DRIVEWAYS
Your contractor has years of experience and know-how in the construction of driveways, roadways and parking lots. Therefore
you should accept his recommendations concerning the construction or resurfacing of your project. By accepting his
recommendations, you might not get the cheapest job available, but you will benefit by getting a longer lasting quality
project. In pavents, quality starts from the bottom and with no foundation a driveway can start to deteriorate during the
first season. Maybe that is the reason you are having your driveway resurfaced at this time. Another surface over a driveway
already breaking up because of a bad foundation will not correct the condition.
Once you have accepted the recommendations of the contractor concerning base, drainage and thickness of material you will
have a driveway that will initially have a very pleasing appearance. From this point on, you can preserve the appearance
and prolong its life by a few simple precautions.
Once your project is completed, you will be the proud owner of a driveway made from a material commonly called Black Top,
but better known by Highway Engineers as Asphaltic Concrete. This material has been used to build the finest pavements in
America and in the World.
As with anything you buy, you must take care of your new acquisition since it is not foolproof. Your driveway can give you
many years of pleasing appearance and useful service, if its not abused.
Asphaltic Concrete is produced from a mixture of course and fine aggregates, and a mixture of asphalt cemets (a petroleum
product). The two materials are mixed at appoximately 300 degrees F in order to coat the aggregate and give the mix
workability for placing and compacting. Once the mixture is in place, compacted, and has cooled down to normal air
temperature, the asphalt acts as a heavy mastic, or glue to hold the aggregate together. One of the advantages of Asphaltic
Concrete is its continued flexibility and pliability once it is in place. This allows the mat to conform to small settlements
in the surface being paved without cracking.
The same flexibility however, makes the surface susceptible to indentations with the application of concentrated loads such
as bicycle kick stand, chair legs and tables and ladders to name a few. The surface of your driveway remains susceptible to
concentrated loads until the asphalt in the surface oxidizes and hardens.
A driveway can lose its' tenderness in anywhere from thirty days to a year. Be patient!! The flexible material will in the
long run give you longer life. A coarser, more open textured mix made with less fine aggregates and/or larger coarse
aggregate could reduce the new pavements' tenderness considerably. The open coarse texture will also reduce the life of your
driveway because it is more porous; allowing water to go through the pavement and soak into the base, thereby weakening it.
Your contractor discovered that most driveway owners prefer the pleasing appearance of a tight, fine textured surface.
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