When you install a new asphalt pavement on your property, you improve the property's appearance and its value at the same time while you provide yourself with a durable pavement surface. However, the type of asphalt, how it is installed, and its protection against erosion are all important details to look at. Here are some recommendations to help you get a great-looking asphalt pavement and maintain it for years.

Recycle Asphalt

Recycled asphalt is a good option for your new asphalt pavement, and it has many benefits that you may not realize. When you have an asphalt pavement installed using recycled materials, it has been processed through an asphalt recycling machine that turns an old pavement surface into new aggregate. 

If you are replacing an old asphalt pavement with a new surface, your asphalt professional can remove, process, and recycle the asphalt to install it as a new surface right on your property. And because the recycled material already has a mixture of bitumen within it, there is less time required for its installation. This also results in you not using new virgin materials to make a new asphalt surface. The cost of oil products have been on the rise, and with it new asphalt mixture, but recycled materials have a lower cost, resulting in more savings for you. 

And don't worry that recycled asphalt is not going to provide you as high a quality material as virgin asphalt. Recycled asphalt contains the same material and provides you the same quality that you would get with a new asphalt pavement. The tar bitumen that is already in the recycled mixture is reactivated in the new surface, giving you a solid surface that holds up just as long as new asphalt. Then, the asphalt will resist crack and rut formation, which can be common in asphalt pavement.

Protect Against Moisture Damage

In addition to installing a stable recycled asphalt surface, you will also want to make sure to install it with adequate drainage potential. When water falls onto your pavement surface from sprinklers or precipitation, it is important for the pavement to have an adequate slope to move the water from off its surface. For a driveway this may need a central ridge for water to drain off either side or for the pavement to slope from one end to the other. 

You may also need to install a drainage gutter or drain within the pavement, depending on the surface area and surrounding landscaping. If your pavement sits adjacent to a soil landscaped area, you won't need to install a drainage gutter, but you can slope the pavement so it drains off into the soil.

Contact an asphalt pavement recycler to learn more.