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29 May 2014

Improve The Quality Of Pavements With Driveway Repair Somerset County Contractors

By Nora Jennings


You may use gravel, concretes, shell, or asphalt in constructing your driveways. Each of the different materials has its own pros and cons. If you have installed asphaltic driveways, the pavements will deteriorate and develop defects such as cracks, upheavals, sinkholes, potholes, and depressions. A driveway repair Somerset County contractor would be of great help in maintaining pavements. Cracks will form when the asphaltic material dries and hardens.

The asphaltic driveways and parking lots are designed using rock particles, asphaltic cement, sand, and binders, which make the structures flexible and durable. A newly installed asphaltic pavement is by far the most flexible since it retains light hydrocarbon oils. Crushed gravel stones make up the base of these pavements where the asphaltic material is laid.

However, environmental and manmade elements can cause damages on the pavements. Sunlight bakes the blacktop and makes it brittle. Water on the other hand penetrates the pavement surfaces and enters the base course causing more trouble. The water also aids in oxidizing the binders underneath the blacktop making the deterioration process to increase further on pavements.

Within one winter-summer cycle, the continuous freezing and unthawing of water beneath driveways will cause cracks to develop rapidly. The surrounding driveways surfaces will then break up making the structure heavily susceptible to water damage. Driveways crack sealers or fillers can help in correcting the problems thus preventing further damage to your drives.

The change in color from jet black to the grayish color is an indication that you need to sealcoat the surface. As the color changes, you also have small tiny cracks forming. These cracks are initially undetectable but prevalent within pavements. The fine hairline cracks do not usually present any threats to your pavements at first, but as they continue to widen, they start allowing water to penetrate.

The freeze-thaw cycles also contribute to wearing and tearing of asphaltic pavements from inside out. When there are cracks on pavements, they allow water to penetrate and settle underneath the blacktop. That water will freeze during winter and expand. As it expands, it enlarges the fissures and creates bigger cracks. During spring, the frozen water unthaws and leaves empty spaces, which cause the material above to crumble down and fill over the area.

There is a variety of these fillers, and your paving contractor will advice you on the best quality to use. The type of applicator to be used will be determined by the width and depth of cracks. The fillers come in two broad categories, which are the hot applied sealers and the cold applied emulsions. No matter how good your pavement is constructed, it will not last forever. This implies that at some point, you will say bye to your structure and have to install a new one.

A majority of cracks form on asphaltic driveways due to insufficiently compacted base. If the gravel material is not compacted using industry grade rollers, it remains unstable and could cause shifting of the materials and the structure. The ground underneath your driveways may freeze and form bulges that make the surface uneven. When frozen water unthaws in spring, it causes defects like potholes. A paving contractor can assist in repairing cracks before they develop into potholes.




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