Asphalt Paving Shreveport

Common Tips That Improve Asphalt Paving

It’s time for you to get the best asphalt paving Shreveport, LA has to offer, but you aren’t sure how to handle this process. Don’t worry! We at Ark-La-Tex Paving are here to help. Our experts are skilled at this process and will do what they can to help you. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of helpful tips that you can use to keep your pavement secure when you work with us on your next project.

Don’t Neglect Your Pavers

The paver is the machine used to spread asphalt paving across your driveway area. Typically, these machines are relatively simple to understand but need to be appropriately handled. First of all, they need to be checked for low fluid levels – including oil, lubricants, and much more – and all of these fluids must be balanced appropriately to ensure that they are at a level that protects your paver from getting damaged.

You also need to make sure that you add a coating solution to the mixing components to make sure that the asphalt does not stick to them. This type of coating is often spread using an integrated system that sprays the interior throughout the machine to ensure that it doesn’t get coated with asphalt. However, you may need to spray some of this coating on your machine if it does not have this tool.

Just as importantly, you need to make sure that you check the paving equipment for any frays that could cause it to run poorly. Typically, your paving experts will perform many of these steps for you to ensure that you don’t have to do them yourself. That said, many homeowners like taking a more hands-on approach and may, at least, want to see how things are run to ensure success in the future.

Set the Screed Plate

The screed plate is a critical part of the asphalt paving process because it helps to set the mat thickness during your pour. And changing the angle of this plate will create a heavier or lighter flow of asphalt, which will change how much you use and the concentration of pavement on your driveway. So you need to pay careful attention to this factor to avoid pavement problems on your driveway.

Typically, you will go by what the experts state because they understand the depth that your pavement needs to be stable and secure. However, you may also want to tweak the depth to achieve a different result. For example, some people like a thicker slab because it lasts longer and produces a better level of protection for their driveway that lasts longer but which costs more money to pour and maintain.

Usually, however, you should let the pavement experts take control of this element because they can achieve a more robust pour and know precisely how to balance the weight of your slab with that of what your sub-grade can support. Again, it’s not a bad idea to have an idea of how this process goes but to know when to let the pavement experts handle the stressful planning process.

Adding the Asphalt Properly

Now that your asphalt paving is ready to go, you need to make sure that you lay a good mat. There are a few ways to approach this process. The material level and the speed of the spread will heavily dictate much of this process. Some people want to pave very quickly and set their rate fast to ensure that their thick level of asphalt gets spread rapidly across the surface of their driveway.

The trick here is to maintain a consistent level of pouring that makes sense for your needs. When you select a speed and a material thickness, stick to these levels to avoid making any mistakes. The idea is that you want to create what is known as a good “head” of material. This term applies to the material that lies directly in front of your spreader – you usually want it to cover the width of the screed.

If you’re uncertain, it is usually better to err slightly on the side of a more massive head instead of a smaller one. Though you may get some extra thickness and a wavy surface with a large head, a small one can cause significant imperfections with the structure of your pavement that may lead to failure. So be very careful and make sure that you balance this level properly.

Other Factors to Consider

This next section on asphalt paving will focus on factors that we didn’t have time to discuss much previously. For example, you can create many different asphalt affects by changing the paving speed, such as ripples and waves. However, these effects are usually going to cause damage to your surface – so keep the rate consistent, as always, to ensure that your asphalt is as secure as possible.

Next, you need to make sure that you don’t neglect the compaction of your asphalt when laying it. The compaction refers to the density of the pavement and how well it can resist various types of damage. Typically, you want a pretty compact slab of asphalt that can easily withstand harsh winters, substantial traffic problems, and a myriad of weather-related issues, such as ice, that may occur without warning.

Other factors, such as temperature, can also change the quality of your pavement. You typically want to pour your pavement as soon as you can because, as it cools, it will lose its ability for compaction and become harder to handle. That’s why you usually see so many people working on asphalt – they need to get is spread out as far as they can to ensure that it doesn’t dry too quickly on them.

You Can Get Great Results With Your Asphalt

By following these tips and working with the best experts on asphalt paving Shreveport, LA has to offer, you can get the high-quality look for your driveway that you need to keep it stable and secure. So please don’t hesitate to contact us at Ark-La-Tex Paving to make sure you do this process right. Our experts will work with you to ensure that you are satisfied with every step of this process.