Asphalt prices per sqft?

[6sunset6]

I don't remember what I paid it was 10 years ago but I had a number of conversations with paving contractors about what I wanted. I wanted what ever it took to hold up to 3-4 tri axle loads of gravel or fill or top soil a year for a while. 22-25 cy. All the home owner guys were kind of 3-4 course and 1-2 fine. This one guy thought about it for a while and said dense binder. He said that's what I used on my yard go look at it. It looks like course with all the spaces filled in with fines. It's not smooth but it took the trucks with no problem at all. Still is holding up . 3.5 inches. That was based on the roller. I think they used smaller rollers because the point load is higher. They roll till the lines are gone. The base is really critical. I drove on it and a lot of trucks 4000 cy trucked in for 7 years before I paved it. Knowing what I know now I would have used a geo textile first over the rough grade. I probably put in 2-3 feet of bank run 12 x 900 feet and could have done it with 12 " on textile. next time. Now I remember what I paid 9k 10 years ago 2k for the sub grade and 7k for the blacktop

 

[bx24]

Bird-

I am encouraged that you said they recommended 4" of concrete (I had no clue how thick a medium duty driveway needed to be).

If my math is correct, here is what I would expect to do 2500 sqft of driveway:

Asphalt @ $2 / sqft - $5K

Concrete 4" thick (doing the pouring myself with bribed buddies) @ $100 / cubic yard - $3100

I don't mind doing things myself (but who has an asphalt machine laying around!) so it looks like I may be leaning towards the concrete!

Thanks guys. I will still get estimates, but this has been an eye opener

 

[machmeter62]

Bird-

I am encouraged that you said they recommended 4" of concrete (I had no clue how thick a medium duty driveway needed to be).

If my math is correct, here is what I would expect to do 2500 sqft of driveway:

Asphalt @ $2 / sqft - $5K

Concrete 4" thick (doing the pouring myself with bribed buddies) @ $100 / cubic yard - $3100

I don't mind doing things myself (but who has an asphalt machine laying around!) so it looks like I may be leaning towards the concrete!

Thanks guys. I will still get estimates, but this has been an eye opener

Asphalt: This may create a debate? I own commerical property, and over the last 35 years have had several paving and re-paving jobs at different sites that were scam jobs!! Sometimes one doesn't get what he is paying, for the completed job. I have learned to do your homwork before the pavers arrive. One ton of asphalt will cover 80 sq. ft, @ 2 inches thick, or 1 ft. wide and 80 ft long. Get the delivered price per ton, and do your own pricing on labor. My last paving job required 50 tons @ 2" thick, which the contractor agreed on. He completed the re-paving with 25 ton @ 1 inch thickness. I know, because the delivery trucks, upon my request, gave me a copy of the loads from the quarry; while I watched the work from my office! I then confronted the contractor about the issue upon completion, and could have got the job free, with his license on the line, but we negotiated a fair price. He received an education that day. BEWARE, not all pavers are honest! This is an office building parking lot that is rectangle, and a relative easy flat surface also.

Another solution is to get an honest paver with a good reputation from other work that he has done?

 

[Bird]

Concrete 4" thick (doing the pouring myself with bribed buddies) @ $100 / cubic yard - $3100

That's fine, but just don't forget that you want at least 3/8", preferably 1/2", rebar on 16" or maybe 18" centers, tied everywhere it crosses, and on 2" pedestals to keep the rebar up in the center third of the concrete.

 

[MarkV]

Concrete prices are going down right now with building in a slump. Not sure where you are located but it might be worth checking current concrete rates and moving the project up while the prices are lower.

MarkV

 

[Wayne County Hose]

I would check that thickness on the concrete. My father-in-law used to work pouring cement. He always told me 4" for a sidewalk, 6" for a driveway. I may be wrong, but I would research it before pouring. Look at the pic below my name to the left, you don't want that happening. Welcome to Pa, home of the worst roads in the nation.

 

[6sunset6]

If you are going to use concrete don't forget the control cracks . You will still need them regardless af the amount of rebar

 

[Bird]

4" for a sidewalk, 6" for a driveway

The other thing to consider, in additon to the thickness, is the mixture or ratio of cement. The City specified a particular crush strength and each truck had to fill a little cylinder before unloading. Those cylinders were allowed to dry, then that concrete was sent to a lab.

Of course, then there were specifications for preparing the base. They had to remove all rock and stone, used a giant tiller to mix in lime, pack to a certain point, etc. before doing the paving. The 6" of asphalt was applied in two 3" applications.

I wondered a bit about the 4" of concrete since it had to handle lots of wreckers, occasionally even a heavy duty wrecker with an 18-wheeler, and one of my guys used a 22,000 pound forklift to move vehicles into place for the weekly auction, but the engineers said 4" of the right kind of concrete would do it.

 

[Lynkage]

BX 24

I am in the concrete business and here in Denver you can expect $5 sq ft for concrete and about $5.50 asphalt.

I always give my customers the best that I can so I pour drives at 6" @4500psi w/#3 40grade re-bar 2' on centers. I also always use road base compacted sub graded at least 3".

I would highly recommend using concrete instead of asphalt for longevity reasons.

Yes you can achieve a higher strength 4" slab but the surface prep becomes that much more important. If you were to go 4" I would recommend a 5500-6000 psi mix and put about 6" of road base (3/4" crushed concrete) highly compacted. also never if possible compact more than 6-8" lifts at a time.

My family has been in the concrete business for about 50 years and my father builds swimming pools as I used to do the same. In a pool we use 9500psi concrete 6" thick with the beam (top) 12X12". Pools less than 6' deep get #4 re-bar 12" on center, pools over get 6x12" centers. Of course there are different situations that require other solutions.

So as far as your situation choose your contractor very carefully and you would be best off not to choose only by price. This would be true for concrete and asphalt.

These are only my opinions.
Shane

 

[Bird]

These are only my opinions.

And just for my opinion, yours sounds to me like the best, most complete, response in this thread.