Ace Asphalt Blog Pavement Maintenance: To maintain or when to maintain

Pavement maintenance is an ongoing concern for all commercial property managers, school facilities, and homeowners' associations. Anyone who has pavement wonders how and when to maintain it to extend its life, whether it be an asphalt parking lot, access route on campus, or a road in the neighborhood. This is important everywhere, but especially in the extreme temperatures of the Southwest.Pavement is continually exposed to oxygen, UV rays, winds, rain, and (depending on your location) snow. Exposure to the elements damages the chemical bonds that give your pavement strength. When those bonds break, the color fades, small fractures in the surface appear and its seal becomes brittle. That's why a pavement maintenance plan is so important to develop. A pavement maintenance plan is a long-term plan to deal with issues as they present, extending the life of your asphalt while potentially minimizing the need - and expense - for major repairs. This means looking at what your pavement needs both now and for the next five to 10 years. Your pavement maintenance plan should map out the specific types of maintenance you will need, when you should plan to perform that maintenance, and what you should plan to budget for each step.Here's how it works: An Ace Asphalt professional will meet with you and walk your property to inspect and assess the age and condition of your paved surfaces. Here are just some of the things we'll look for while onsite:Cracks in your asphalt and concrete surfacesCorrugations or shovingRuttingDepressions, settlement, and drainage issuesPotholesUpheaval or swellingAsphalt patch failureRaveling and/or loss of finesBleedingPolished aggregate or loss of aggregateStreakingFaded pavement markingsTripping hazards (uneven integration of the asphalt surface to gutters, sidewalks, utility covers, or other structures)Each identified issue will be charted and addressed in your pavement maintenance plan. By having a plan and following it, you can maximize the life of your parking lot and other paved surfaces.So if the question is whether to maintain or simply when to maintain, the answer can be found with Ace Asphalt, ranked among the Top Contractors in the Striping, Pavement Repair, Surface Treatment, and Paving categories by Pavement Maintenance and Reconstruction .Call or email us today and let's make a plan!In subsequent posts, we'll talk get more in-depth on who benefits from a pavement maintenance plan, how that plan will best work for you, and what Ace Asphalt has in its arsenal to extend the life of your pavement.