Ways to Extend the Life of Your Asphalt Parking Lot

Every parking lot wears out eventually. How quickly it happens depends less on luck and more on a handful of decisions: how the lot was built, how water moves across it, what kind of traffic it carries and how fast damage gets fixed. Owners who pay attention to those factors often get many more good years out of the same pavement.

Here are practical ways to stretch the life of an asphalt parking lot, with an eye on the conditions properties face in central New Jersey.

Build or Rebuild It for the Traffic It Actually Gets

The single biggest factor in a lot’s lifespan is whether the pavement section matches the loads. Cars are light. Garbage trucks, box trucks, buses and tractor-trailers are not. A lot paved uniformly for cars will break down quickly in the lanes where heavy vehicles travel.

When you pave or repave, map where trucks enter, turn and stop. Those areas, along with the approach to the dumpster enclosure and the loading dock, benefit from a deeper base and thicker asphalt. It costs more up front in those zones and saves a lot of repair work later.

Manage Where Heavy Vehicles Go

Even on a well-built lot, you can reduce wear by guiding heavy traffic. Direct delivery trucks along a set route with signage, and ask vendors to avoid cutting across lightly built sections or parking on edges. Keep heavy equipment, containers and trailers off areas that were not designed for them.

Concentrated loads deserve special care in summer. In a New Jersey heat wave, asphalt surface temperatures climb well above the air temperature and the pavement softens. Trailer jacks, dumpster wheels and lift outriggers can sink in. Use steel plates or wide wooden pads under them. Our article on how extreme heat affects an asphalt parking lot explains what is happening in more detail.

Make Water Leave Quickly

Water that sits on or seeps under asphalt is the main reason lots fail early. A few things to check regularly:

• Catch basins and inlets clear of leaves, litter and sediment, especially in fall
• Roof drains and downspouts tied into the drainage system or discharging onto landscaping, not across the pavement
• Pavement around inlets that has not sunk below the grate
• Low spots where puddles linger long after a storm

Correcting drainage problems early is far cheaper than repairing the base damage they cause.

Watch the Landscaping

Landscaping and pavement do not always get along. Irrigation heads that spray onto the lot keep the edges wet day after day. Overflowing planting beds wash soil onto the pavement and into drains. Tree roots from islands and borders can lift and crack the asphalt as they grow.

Adjust sprinklers so they water plants, not pavement. When planting new trees near the lot, choose species and locations with roots in mind. Ask landscapers to be careful with trailers and mowers near edges.

Keep Edges Supported

The outside edges of a lot, especially where pavement meets lawn or a wooded area without curbing, are vulnerable. Without side support, the asphalt cracks and breaks off under traffic. Keep soil built up and compacted along unsupported edges, and use wheel stops or bollards where vehicles tend to run off the pavement.

Fix Damage Before Winter Finds It

A broken area in September is a manageable problem. The same hole after a winter of freeze-thaw cycles, road salt and plow traffic is a bigger one. Make a habit of a fall walk-through, clear drains, build up soft edges and schedule any milling and repaving while asphalt plants are still producing hot mix.

Plan the Repave Before the Base Fails

The most cost-effective time to repave is while the base is still sound and the wear is mostly on top. Waiting until alligator cracking and holes spread across the lot means paying for base repairs too. Track the condition year to year so you can budget for milling and repaving at the right time.

For more on building a maintenance routine around these habits, see the benefits of preventative maintenance for your asphalt parking lot. When it is time for repairs or repaving, learn about our asphalt parking lot paving services and request a free estimate.