Regardless of how well your asphalt pavement was installed and the quality of the products used, the asphalt will begin to degrade and need repairs at some point. The timing of how quickly your pavement degrades depends on the usage of the pavement surface, as well as the elements it comes into contact with on a regular basis. Fortunately, there are strategies of asphalt preventative maintenance that can help you reduce the wear on your pavement and extend the time it takes before repairs or replacement is needed.
- Crack filling. The process of crack filling includes cleaning out cracks in the asphalt by blowing out debris and then filling the crack with some sort of asphalt emulsion. Crack filling prevents water from seeping into the pavement, which weakens it and will continue to expand the crack over time.
- Crack sealing. Crack sealing is a little more effective than just crack filling. Sealers are more flexible, so when a sealer is applied to a crack, it is able to move with the pavement when it changes due to freeze / thaw cycles.
- Surface treatments. A surface treatment is a protective layer applied over the pavement. It is waterproof and protects the underlying layer from water, which causes damage and also acts as a filler for existing cracks.
Asphalt preventative maintenance is not effective with pavement that has structural deficiencies. It is also more effective when used right when your pavement starts to show signs of wear. If you wait too long to do asphalt preventative maintenance, it will be too late for it to do any good.