Anyone in the Asphalt Bidness??

[jcountry]

I’m not looking to have something paved myself, but I’m curious about something....

Looks to me like the asphalt put down these days doesn’t last for ****.

A good example would be 285 south of the airport. That whole stretch was paved just a handful of years ago and it is slap falling apart. I can also think of some very lightly traveled country road near my house. Same thing. Just crumble after a few years.

Is there something different in the binders or formulas for whatever holds it together?

The roads resurfaced now don’t seem to go even 1/3 as long as they did 20 years ago...

Just curious

 

[N.Ga.Trader]

I work around it but not with it. I'm thinking it probably has to do something with it constantly being recycled

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[jcountry]

I work around it but not with it. I'm thinking it probably has to do something with it constantly being recycled

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Kind of my thought as well.

I don’t know much about it, but sure seems like it doesn’t last very long since they started grinding it down and re using the aggregate. I bet the oils which soaked in screw some stuff up.

Not sure the recycling is a net positive. Seems like a good idea at first, but when the road needs to be resurfaced 3x as much... maybe not.

 

[sambo77]

A lot of jobs the asphalt gets milled at site, dug up ground and hot tar added. It is subpar quality in my experience. When I was just out of school my first full time job was road work, I could tell a difference in asphalt from the plant and millings.

 

[N.Ga.Trader]

A lot of jobs the asphalt gets milled at site, dug up ground and hot tar added. It is subpar quality in my experience. When I was just out of school my first full time job was road work, I could tell a difference in asphalt from the plant and millings.

Thats how its done at the company that has all those green trucks running around.

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[MRM]

RAP
Is the recycled asphalt product.
Some mix has up to 40%

Not only that, but the asphalt cement that is included in the millings (RAP) is also accounted for. It reduces the amount of fresh ac added.

There are some other factors that aren't too hard to figure out.

 

[mcdougmd]

New and improved! Green! Saving the environment and putting money in the pockets of paving contractors, bureaucrats and politicians. What’s not to like?

 

[rumrunner55]

Most of what you see on the interstates wearing out is a drainage layer that’s meant to speed along the water and reduce hydroplaning. It’s newer to the “scene” persay and isn’t packed right like you’d assume it’s very porous. Doesn’t help that regardless what level of design you put in the asphalt is meant to be redone every 10yrs max. We can design all day long till everyone and their brother runs overloaded too, just breaks down the sub-base faster causing everything else to be worthless

 

[MacTavish]

There is not enough glass and sand in the mix to give it strength.

 

[jcountry]

Most of what you see on the interstates wearing out is a drainage layer that’s meant to speed along the water and reduce hydroplaning. It’s newer to the “scene” persay and isn’t packed right like you’d assume it’s very porous. Doesn’t help that regardless what level of design you put in the asphalt is meant to be redone every 10yrs max. We can design all day long till everyone and their brother runs overloaded too, just breaks down the sub-base faster causing everything else to be worthless

Interesting.... I didn't know about the hydroplaning thing. I don't think it makes any difference. Cars seem to hydroplane based more on weight than anything else.... Well, weight, and whether or not some dip**** over inflated the tires. Standing water is standing water. I haven't noticed less of it..... I'll start looking more carefully.

I wonder where all the weigh stations went.

I know down where I live, the bain of our roads is logging trucks. Those damned things run super-full all the time and the roads really have suffered.

Our road wasn't re asphalted for over 40 years, and it was starting to give out. The new job they laid down about 3 years ago still looks good enough, but I bet we will see problems within 5 more years. You can see a place or two where garbage trucks cut a corner and have already crunched it. Guarantee this one won't last 10 years. Hell, a road back of here gets less than 30 cars per day, and it's already got pot holes-after being paved twice in the last 10 years.