Asphalt driveway damage / repair

[dgeesaman]

In a little over two years at our property, we've damaged the asphalt section. I don't recall a single crack in it when we moved in, now there are alligator cracks in many places.

Tell me what I'm facing here. We're currently getting a weekly dumpster and recycling removal as well as a weekly porta-john cleanout. We get a few triaxle loads of stone/gravel per year as well - I think it's safe to say we'll have to continue with this forever.

Once it's cracked, is there any way to stop the damage?

Winter is coming, should I get it professionally sealed?

If we simply save up and get another layer of blacktop put down, will the end result be stronger than now?

David

 

[MNBobcat]

Get it professionally sealed and make sure they broom on the sealer not spray it. Water gets in those cracks and freezes and that causes problems. The seal coating may help you get a little more life out of the driveway.

The alligatoring is caused by water getting into the base and then the asphalt settling.

 

[Streetcar]

If all of this damage has occurred in two years , the driveway is not thick enough to support the loads and it is structurally failing. Sealing will be a band aid on a broken bone. Save money for total replacement after the existing driveway is no longer functional. I would do no maintenance on the existing asphalt.

 

[Streetcar]

How thick is existing asphalt and is there any gravel base under it?
The areas of asphalt that are cracked make a poor base for asphalt overlays

 

[vtsnowedin]

You don't have enough quality base under the pavement to carry truck loads in spring when the ground is saturated with water. Hense the alligator cracks. Sealing it will help keep the water out but won't fill in any ruts or add any strength. A one inch overlay will fill the ruts and add strength to the pavement but would have to be done several times before you built up enough mass in the pavement to spread the truck loads out to the weaker subsoil without cracking.
You could put on one inch, enjoy it three years then seal it for another three then repeat. How many cycles depends on how old you are.

 

[Billrog]

Residential black top is compress to 2" when laid in order to stand up better to heavy traffic commercial black top has larger aggregate and when laid compressed to 4" thick. You cannot lay new black top over the existing rd. and expect it to be level with not ruts.The existing rd. would have to be ground up and re-leveled before an new layer was put down in order for it to be satisfactory.

 

[Buppies]

vtsnowedin is correct and his method is the cheapest solution. The next method is to dig it up undercut entire area ten inches install 8 inches of road stone here 21B then two inches of SM9.5 al or if large trucks always there 8 inches stone three inches of base asphalt BM 25 then two inches of SM 9.5. Hopefully this helps

 

[paulharvey]

vtsnowedin is correct and his method is the cheapest solution. The next method is to dig it up undercut entire area ten inches install 8 inches of road stone here 21B then two inches of SM9.5 al or if large trucks always there 8 inches stone three inches of base asphalt BM 25 then two inches of SM 9.5. Hopefully this helps

Agree that VTS is right, but I would add that the drainage may be the issue, causing the base to fail. Here (Florida) the reason base fails is nearly always unsuitable material and/or water in base. There simply is No Cheap way to fix unsuitable now, and even if that's the cause, keeping water out of the base will help. I would cut a small swale parrell to the center line, use some rubberized crack sealer and hope for the best. Eventually if it keeps getting worse it will be decision time, about over lay, leveling, milling, reclaiming, or what. Coal-tar driveway sealer makes it pretty but does nothing to fix any problems.

 

[dgeesaman]

The diagnosis makes sense. Our soil is very much silt - it's either soft and muddy or hard and dry and the last couple of winters have been crazy wet. Add the trucks to that, and crunch.

Wouldn't the sealing at least help avoid chunks lifting out during winter?

Anyway, I like the asphalt but I'm not $50k in love. (Dunno the real cost to replace, but we're talking 1000 feet of length)

Would a different finishing be more durable? I'm thinking millings or tar&chip.

 

[tractchores]

It's a good time to do paving with oil prices down. You can look up the cost per SQ FT of asphault in your area to get a sense of what you are looking at. I doubt you're looking at 50k, depending parking areas etc I'd guess you're closer to 25. I just redid mine a couple of years ago and had them grind everything up to create a better base, put gravel in trouble spots, dig some drainage and we ultimately went with 3", which should hold up better. Cost wa about 40k for a little under half a mile ~14 - 20' wide. Going with gravel may be doable too if you're ok with the dust and repairs.

 

[paulharvey]

The diagnosis makes sense. Our soil is very much silt - it's either soft and muddy or hard and dry and the last couple of winters have been crazy wet. Add the trucks to that, and crunch.

Wouldn't the sealing at least help avoid chunks lifting out during winter?

Anyway, I like the asphalt but I'm not $50k in love. (Dunno the real cost to replace, but we're talking 1000 feet of length)

Would a different finishing be more durable? I'm thinking millings or tar&chip.

Chip and tar, what we call Chip and Seal or "slag" will flex with the movement and is a good choice if, and only if, there's people around who can do it cheaply. I think for 50 lane miles, we where paying $2.40/ square yard, and a 1" thick over lay runs from $5-7.50/sy (large scale quantities, home owner price is probably double that).

The Grafco crack sealer is a (roughly) half rubber half asphalt that will seal cracks and also hold them together. It had to be heated in a kettle or heated crack sealer machine (approx 400-500 degrees), but there are some more consumer friendly products. If the entire (or a good percentage) 1000 lf of the drive is alligator cracked, the chip seal is a good option, and works well with an eventual asphalt overlay.

 

[Deere Dude]

I have a 1200' driveway that was alligatoring on the edges sometimes up to two feet in. Our situations are different in that no dump trucks or gravel trucks come on the driveway, just my 16,000# camper and my dually. This was neglected for years. I have a pretty decent base, I think so that wasn't a concern for me.

As suggested by someone on this site, I went to Lowes and got tar blocks, heated then to melt them on a 40-60,000 BTU burner, put that in something called a pour pot, then poured the liquid on the bad areas and my wife used a long handled ice scraper to smear it into the cracks. It is a rubberized darker color than the rest of the drive but works in my situation where light traffic is involved.

My ideal fix would be to pick up the to two inches and start over, but this is cheaper, although may not work in your situation. Cost for me was 75$ for the pour pot, $350 for tar, $100 for LP.

 

[katoomed00]

I'm tired of dealing with my asphalt driveway and ready for concrete. I am considering digging a footing around the perimeter of the asphalt and pouring concrete over it.
Any ideas as to the pros and cons of doing so?

 

[paulharvey]

I'm tired of dealing with my asphalt driveway and ready for concrete. I am considering digging a footing around the perimeter of the asphalt and pouring concrete over it.
Any ideas as to the pros and cons of doing so?

Concrete works out to be about 5 times the price, and if you have garbage subgrade and water problems, it will still crack and break up.

If we are talking about 10 or 20 cubic yards worth of concrete, it might be cost effective but if it's even a couple hundred feet long, forgot about concrete. If your driveway is really that bad, you could consider going with scarifying the asphalt and base, and add 6" of asphalt millings/rap to it. There really is no easy cheap way to fix problem roads, that's why road building costs so much.

 

[Streetcar]

Concrete overlay of asphalt is referred to as white topping. If the asphalt is structurally sound it can be cost effective . It is typically done on parking lots .

The OP pictures show a relatively new driveway that is rutting and alligator cracking.
He can either rubblize the asphalt and convert to gravel/ milling driveway or beef up and repair the asphalt. Sealing cracks will be waste of money in his case

 

[vtsnowedin]

The diagnosis makes sense. Our soil is very much silt - it's either soft and muddy or hard and dry and the last couple of winters have been crazy wet. Add the trucks to that, and crunch.

Wouldn't the sealing at least help avoid chunks lifting out during winter?

Anyway, I like the asphalt but I'm not $50k in love. (Dunno the real cost to replace, but we're talking 1000 feet of length)

Would a different finishing be more durable? I'm thinking millings or tar&chip.

No measuring tape in the photos but say 14 ft wide by 1000 ft long ?
if so and if your local price for state spec road asphalt was say $65 per ton placed it would be...
1000X14/9X.057X65.=$5763.33 for a one inch overlay with a tack coat sprayed on just in front of the paver. It is a nice straight drive and easy to do so you could get some good bids on the work.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I just redid mine a couple of years ago and had them grind everything up to create a better base, put gravel in trouble spots, dig some drainage and we ultimately went with 3", which should hold up better.

That is a good way to get to the bottom of the problem. I would only add that instead of adding gravel I would add just inch and a half minus concrete stone. The mix that comes out of the grinder already has too much sand in it and adding gravel which is a good mix of sand and stone doesn't have any extra stones to give to the ground up sand.
I've spread on as much as 0.17 tons of stone per square yard (a layer three inches deep) and had them mix it in with the second pass of the reclaimer. Overlaid with three inches of hot mix 2 binder 1 top and you get a road stronger then many of your state roads. Don't forget the drainage if needed though. Water is the worst enemy of a road.

 

[dgeesaman]

That is a good way to get to the bottom of the problem. I would only add that instead of adding gravel I would add just inch and a half minus concrete stone. The mix that comes out of the grinder already has too much sand in it and adding gravel which is a good mix of sand and stone doesn't have any extra stones to give to the ground up sand.
I've spread on as much as 0.17 tons of stone per square yard (a layer three inches deep) and had them mix it in with the second pass of the reclaimer. Overlaid with three inches of hot mix 2 binder 1 top and you get a road stronger then many of your state roads. Don't forget the drainage if needed though. Water is the worst enemy of a road.

All good info.

Drainage: in the areas where cracking is worst, is a very gentle slope and water runs down the length of the driveway. No cross-flow observed or expected. The lowest area crosses a small creek, floods occasionally and can get saturated for a week at a time, and yet is completely free of cracks. I suspect that's because it's built up thicker with a much better base.

My soil perc rate is extremely slow as it's mostly silt. Hard packed dirt in summer / soft wet mud or squishy turf on both ends of winter. I know that gravel spread in our paddocks will disappear - we roll out landscape cloth before gravel now - might this be happening under the driveway?

David

 

[dodge man]

Oil and chip over the top would help a little bit but would eventually break up also.

 

[vtsnowedin]

All good info.

Drainage: in the areas where cracking is worst, is a very gentle slope and water runs down the length of the driveway. No cross-flow observed or expected. The lowest area crosses a small creek, floods occasionally and can get saturated for a week at a time, and yet is completely free of cracks. I suspect that's because it's built up thicker with a much better base.

My soil perc rate is extremely slow as it's mostly silt. Hard packed dirt in summer / soft wet mud or squishy turf on both ends of winter. I know that gravel spread in our paddocks will disappear - we roll out landscape cloth before gravel now - might this be happening under the driveway?

David

It doesn't appear to be distressed enough for that to be the case. The pavement you have is keeping the base from mixing with the silt below but it isn't strong enough to avoid cracking when a truck goes over it when the base and subsoil is saturated in the spring.
When building new an eight inch layer of clean sand does about the same job as a geotextile fabric and often costs less. Which to use comes down to the cost of excavating out the extra eight inches or the strength and water level of the soil below.