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Consult Driveway Repair Somerset County Contractors To Improve Quality Of Pavements

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.

The oxidation process entails shuffling and rearranging of molecules as they try to seek for an equilibrium state. It is a process that takes place the entire lifespan of asphaltic pavements. The first sign that the blacktop is beginning to deteriorate is the change in color and development of light raveling. As the paving material ages, it will lose its elasticity property and become dry and brittle.

The crack fillers need to be applied as soon as you see the cracks. In most cases, cracks become more pronounced in late spring. When they are not dealt with immediately, water continues seeping down the driveways and erodes the soils under the pavements. With time, you will have your asphaltic structure forming mini sinkholes in areas where soils have been eroded.

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.

Potholes or sink holes form from the empty spaces as the top material crumbles down and fill the cracks. After you have installed the pavements, you should inspect them on a regular basis to ensure any defects are identified in advance and corrected before they become elaborate. If you observe cracks forming on driveways and parking lots, it is wise to consider repairing them as soon as possible.

A sealcoating procedure is not meant to repair damages on driveway pavements. However, when applied on surfaces with fine hairline cracks, the sealcoats can address the problem. If the fine cracks become more visible and extended, they require a more effective method such as an overlay. With the pavement repair contractors, you can restore the quality and strength of such structures.




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