"That's just what we need, another parking lot." Well, you are absolutely right! Especially in big cities or metropolitan areas. A business, apartments, churches, schools or clinics need to have places for people to park. Whether you drive around to find the best parking spot available or decide to park "way out yonder" you need somewhere to leave your car. Like it or not, we live in a car dominated society.
Asphalt is the primary paving choice for parking lots. Asphalt is usually about 5% of asphalt cement and 95% stone and gravel. What is the most recycled material in the US? It's asphalt. Whenever you see roads being torn up or a parking lot raised and replaced it is probably with recycled asphalt! A lot more than just laying asphalt goes into making a good parking lot. Traffic flow, striping of the parking lot and signage, including handicap signage, all need to be considered.
Many commercial buildings are subject to local zoning ordinances that dictate how many parking spots are needed per square foot of office space. Companies get around this by creating "compact" car spaces that are just a little smaller than a typical parking space, therby enabling the company to meet the minimum parking requirement by using less land to do so. That's why you may feel a little crowded next time you park in a industrial or commercial business center, especially a newer one.
Have you ever driven by a street, highway, or lot being paved? If you have, you'll notice some very neat equipment. There are the Pavers (and dump truck) which lay down the asphalt. And then there are the Rollers, whose job it is to press the hot asphalt into a smooth surface. When that is done, they stripe the road or parking lot, placing turn-lanes, no passing zones, parking spaces, etc.
Paving companies do a lot more than just laying down asphalt. They repair existing damaged spots on the pavement like holes or deteriorated sections. In cases where repairing won't do the trick, they also remove and replace the asphalt. Seal coating is done to minimize the effects of environmental hazards such as rain and pollutants. And, paving companies also grind the asphalt, which is to make the old paving job fit in seamlessly to the new paving they have done.
If we drive a car or park it pretty much anywhere, we can thank paving contractors for setting up and maintain the road ahead of us!!
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Pavel Amis is a guest blogger and contributor for Southern California paving contractor AMS Paving, located in Fontana, California. For more information on paving equipment, paving methods and costs please visit http://amspaving.com
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