Properly managing any asset like your car, your home, or your place of business involves routine maintenance, and asphalt pavements are no exception. Planning for future maintenance and rehabilitation is an important part of pavement management plans. Pavement maintenance can be relatively inexpensive, but if you wait too long, a costly reconstruction may be the only option. Therefore, be sure to follow these steps to keep your maintenance costs down and greatly maximize the service life of your parking lot, roadway, or outdoor athletic surface.
Assess your pavement
There is never a better time to assess your pavement than NOW! Whether your pavement is brand new or has been neglected for several years, the first thing to do is better understand your pavement. Read last week’s blog to get a few ideas on how to assess your pavement.
Determine what maintenance is needed immediately
Now that you have assessed your pavement, it’s possible there are a few minor distresses that you can address immediately. Most cracks should be cracksealed, all potholes should be patched, and most drainage issues, like standing water or catch basin repairs, should be addressed. Assuming these distresses are not too severe, they can be usually be performed for a relatively low cost. For a pavement maintenance consultation, call Bituminous Roadways.
Plan and budget
Now that you have addressed any immediate concerns, it's time to start planning for the future. While all pavements are different and will deteriorate differently, there are a few maintenance activities that are generally always recommended.
● Pavement assessments every 1-2 years
● Cracksealing new cracks every 2-3 years
● Patch potholes as soon as they appear
● Patch fatigue cracking areas every 4-6 years
● Mill and overlay pavement every 8-12 years
A typical maintenance schedule may look like:
● Year 1: Perform immediate maintenance
● Year 3: Crackseal new cracks
● Year 4: Emulsion or rejuvenating sealcoat
● Year 6: Crackseal and patch
● Year 9: Crackseal new cracks and sealcoat (chipseal)
● Year 12: Mill and overlay
● Repeat for years 12-20+
Follow and modify the plan as needed
The above maintenance recommendations are meant to maximize the service life of your asphalt pavement surface, but all pavements are different and will deteriorate differently. Therefore, reassessing your pavement and your maintenance schedule every 1-2 years is a good practice to ensure your maintenance schedule is still accurate. There are many factors that can cause your pavement to deteriorate faster than expected, and you may need to change your schedule to accommodate.
Bituminous Roadways has been performing asphalt pavement maintenance for more than 70 years. Our expert crews will help you assess your asphalt pavement, recommend an appropriate plan of action and execute the maintenance plan. Call us today at 651-686-7001 to set up a site visit in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area or request for consultation.