Asphalt 101

How should I maintain a new asphalt surface?

Avoid pressure washing or mechanically sweeping your asphalt for the first few weeks. Remember that petrol, degreeser and other solvents and lubricants will damage the asphalt.

If you damage or stain the asphalt in anyway call us before you try to clean it or repair.

Asphalt needs one full summer of baking to reach maximum strength.

After installation, how long should I wait to put vehicles on the asphalt?

Typically overnight but if you really need to drive over the asphalt once the temp drops below 60C it is ok to drive over.  Many car parks and repairs we have completed are opened up within 30 minutes of completing the asphalt.

You should expect some “scuffing” of the new surface, especially during the warmest months and in areas where vehicles are stopping and making sharp turns. These visual imperfections will disappear over time as the surface seasons and becomes less pliable. The most prone area for damage is where the vehicle reverses out and stops, the wheel is then turned from hard left to right (or viceversa) while the car is stationary and it “scuffs” the asphalt. Tyres are designed to stick to asphalt.

Avoid hi-point loading while the asphalt is still fresh for example, bike stands, cherry pickers, EWPs etc.

How long does to take to build my cross over?

Based on having completed more cross overs and driveways in Perth than any other company we estimate the following;

A typical cross over is generally 6m x 4-6m wide.  We would take one day to prepare the ground and road base for asphalt and the following day the asphalt would be completed in about 4 hours.

You would be ok to drive on the crossover / driveway both days (except while we are asphalting).

Driveways take a little longer as a general rule 250m2 takes 2 days to prep and asphalt.


How long will it take to install the asphalt?

4 lapping patches takes about 30 minutes on site to complete

If we need to cut and remove the asphalt it generally doubles the time

Large area take approximately 1 hours per car bay size which is about 13m2 (one ton at 30mm)

Our parent company Jackson Asphalt takes care of all the asphalt over about 120m2

Driveway 500m2 is generally half a day to complete (depends on many factors such as shape, access, distance to plant etc)

Carpark 2000m2 is generally one day to complete (depends on many factors such as shape, access, distance to plant etc)

Hardstand 2000-3000+m2 per day (depends on many factors such as shape, access, distance to plant etc)

Lets talk about drainage and soakwells?

Once you cover the ground in asphalt you need to allow for where the water being collected or dispersed to.

A few options, no kerbs and the water falls off the side of the asphalt, collect the water with soakwell/s in the middle of the asphalt and it is allowed to soak into the ground, flush kerbing to allow the water to pass over the top of the kerbing into the garden etc, spoon drains (long skinny drains) normally in front of garages etc to collect the water and pipe elsewhere.

What if I want to add more asphalt later?

Easy to do but remember the colours will never really match, especially the red colours.


What is a tie in?

Where top (finished level) of the asphalt needs to meet the top of an existing surface such as paving, concrete slab, cross over, existing road, flush kerb etc.

We generally use this term when resheeting over existing asphalt and we remove some existing asphalt (tie ins) to allow the new asphalt to match the level of roads and garage entrances etc.

How thick should the asphalt be?

Pothole repairs depend on the thickness of the hole but generally  never less than 25-30mm.

Driveways and repairs range from 25mm to 40mm (30mm is the most popular). Limestone base course restricts you to 35mm+ in thickness.

Carparks and repairs depends on traffic, cars 25-40mm (30-35mm most popular), heavy loads and trucks etc generally 35-50mm (40mm is the most popular).

Hardstands and repairs are 40-100mm depending on loading and budget.

How long should I expect the asphalt to last?

A properly installed asphalt surface has a design life of 20 plus years or more, depending on the application. You can extend the service life by maintaining good drainage in the surrounding areas, removing aggressive trees adjacent to the mat, and ensuring the traffic load stays within its design, and call 1300ASPHALT to repair any damage to prevent water damaging the base course.

Asphalt or Bitumen or Hotmix or Tarmac?

These are basically all similar terms.