Links to our other HMA Your Best Value pages:
What is Hot Mix Asphalt Pavement? HMA Ultra-Thin Perpetual Pavement Rubbilzation Life Cycle Cost
Thin Asphalt Overlays Smoothness Asphalt Driveways Asphalt Scam Press Release
Smoothness Matters
What does the traveling public care about? - Smooth Roads.
A national survey of motorists funded by the Federal Highway Administration showed that a smooth ride is the top priority of the traveling public.
The traveling public may be less aware, however, that smooth roads also save them money. Roughness has an adverse effect on vehicle operating costs such as fuel and oil consumption, tire wear, maintenance, and depreciation.
Asphalt will consistently give the driving public the smooth, quiet ride they have come to expect. Smooth pavements save fuel, save vehicle operating costs, and last longer. Asphalt pavements are smoother and are easier to keep smoother than concrete pavements.
Click here to read more about how smoothness matters
The concept of Perpetual Pavements was introduced in 2000 by the Asphalt Pavement Alliance (APA). They defined a Perpetual Pavement as “an asphalt pavement designed and built to last longer than 50 years without requiring major structural rehabilitation or reconstruction, and needing only periodic surface renewal in response to distresses confined to the top of the pavement” (APA, 2002). At that time, it was recognized that many well-built, thick asphalt pavements that were categorized as either full-depth or deep-strength pavements had been in service for decades with only minor periodic surface rehabilitation to remove defects and improve ride quality. The advantages of such pavements include:
Thin HMA Overlays - Your Cost-Effective Solution
Thin HMA overlays, 1 ½" or less, are the cost effective solution for pavement preservation primarily because of their ability to:
· Provide improved ride quality,
· Reduce surface distresses,
· Maintain surface geometrics,
· Reduce noise levels,
· Reduce life cycle costs, and
· Provide long-lasting service.
Thin HMA overlays should be placed before the pavement deterioration has reached a critical stage where more extensive rehabilitation is required. This will maximize your performance and yield a more cost-effective solution for your pavement.
Thin HMA overlays can be expected to provide 10 years or more on existing asphalt surfaces.
In 2008, Chou1 and his colleagues found that in almost all cases, a thin asphalt overlay on an asphalt pavement was the most economical solution. He reported that thin overlays of concrete were not as cost effective, possibly due to increased deterioration of the underlying pavement.
Also, in 2008, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) surveyed the state asphalt associations concerning the cost and effectiveness of various pavement preservation treatments. Thin HMA overlays had a longer expected life than the other treatments although the cost was higher. However, when that was divided over the expected life, the thin HMA overlay option was the most cost efficient as shown in the graph below.
1. Chou et. al., "Effectiveness of Thin Hot Mix Overlay on Pavement Ride and Condition Performance," for the Ohio Department of Transportation, 2008.
For more information on Thin HMA Overlays, click here.
Hot Mix Asphalt Right Choice for Miller Road
For both the short term and the long haul, hot mix asphalt pavement saves money on construction and maintenance.
Miller Road is a very busy Genesee County road that runs through the highly commercialized west end of Flint. John Daly, Genesee County Manager-Director stated “The Miller Road concrete was way beyond its useful life and was in terrible shape. The road had been widened in piecemeal fashion since 1926 and was last resurfaced in 1989.”
“We considered several pavement types and chose hot mix asphalt because it allows flexibility in construction and maintenance activities, thus minimizing the impact on motorist and businesses in this corridor that supports more concentrated traffic and vital economic activity than any other in Genesee County. Concrete construction would have required closing access to merchant driveways for three to seven days at a time.”
That’s the conclusion of highway engineers and departments of transportation across the country. The “life-cycle costs”—money spent on road construction and maintenance over its lifetime—are significantly lower with Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) than with concrete.
“The new hot mix asphalt roadway has been specifically designed for the expected traffic and is equivalent to its concrete counterpart. It should last at least 20 years with routine maintenance. When maintenance is necessary in the future, it will be much less disruptive than concrete repair would be.”
Asphalt Pavements are YOUR Best Value: For Roadways, Parking Lots, Airfields, Industrial and Recreational facilities.
Surveys conducted by the Federal Highway Administration leave little doubt about what their customers, the motoring public, expect in their roadways. They want: smooth, safe, long lasting pavements in good condition, a rapid response when problems do arise, with the least amount of disruption when routine maintenance, rehabilitation and emergency repairs are necessary. All of these expectations are best met using hot mix asphalt pavements. And, it is the reason why 94 percent of the paved roads in the United States are surfaced with Hot Mix Asphalt.
Hot Mix Asphalt Pavements are economical, smooth, safe, quiet, constructed quickly, environmentally friendly, 100% recyclable, versatile, lend themselves to stage construction and are easy to maintain.
For further information, Click here to view HMA – Your Best Value presentation
- Low life-cycle cost by avoiding deep pavement repairs or reconstruction,
- Low user-delay costs since minor surface rehabilitation of asphalt pavements only requires short work windows that can avoid peak traffic hours, and
- Low environmental impact by reducing the amount of material resources over the pavement’s life and recycling any materials removed from the pavement surface.
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