Asphalt paving cost

[gsganzer]

We're looking to have part of our driveway paved to help with the mud. We're doing 3000 sq/ft. I'm getting quoted $2/sq/ft for grading (we already have a suitable base) and then putting down 2" of hot rolled asphalt, 2 ton static roller.

Does this price sound good?

 

[rmk700]

Doesn't seem to bad of a price. If you could grade the base yourself to where all they needed to do was roll it down just before paving to reduce cost. I would really try and get it 3" or at least 2 1/2" thick? It would pro long the lifespan greatly.

 

[Budweiser John]

Doesn't seem to bad of a price. If you could grade the base yourself to where all they needed to do was roll it down just before paving to reduce cost. I would really try and get it 3" or at least 2 1/2" thick? It would pro long the lifespan greatly.

Depending on your drainage, freeze-thaw cycles and vehicals weight 2" is a little shy for a long term solution.
We recently replaced a 2" driveway that lasted about 5 years before becoming an alligatored mess. Our ultimate replacement choice was re-processed (ground asphalt) it was a whole lot less expensive, holding up well and has a
Much more sophisticated look than a Wal-Mart parking lot. We put down about 4".

 

[Sprinklerman]

2 inches is not enough , 3 inches of asphalt with a 4 inch compacted base will last . Without a good base whats on top wont last .

 

[bigtiller]

Make sure your 2" is the same as the asphalt guy's 2".

I had mine done and the guy said he would put down 3" for the agreed price. He did put down 3" but, then he compacted the fluffy 3" down to about 1.5" or less. It only took 3 years for it to start falling apart.

 

[jd870]

I would recommend three or four inches of hot mix asphalt done in two lifts.

 

[paulharvey]

Typical minor paved county road, with less than 2000 vehicles per day, 12" stabilized subgrade, 6" limerock base, 1.5" Sp-12.5 asphalt. Material price for asphalt is $58-65/ton. 2" thick (finished/2.5" loose) = 165-167.5 lbs per square yard. So, that's roughly $5.40/square Yard in material, or roughly $0.60/sf. I can't comment on labor and mobilization rates in your area, but...

Any time an Asphalt guy talks in square feet, worry! Asphalt is generally priced in square yards or tons, and the only reason they would quote in square feet is to disguise there price.

2 ton roller on 2" of asphalt is not good enough. I know it's not a road, but 5 or 6 tons and vibratory would be more appropriate.

 

[paulharvey]

I would recommend three or four inches of hot mix asphalt done in two lifts.

Major state roads use 4-4.5" of asphalt in my area. Parking lots and drive ways use 1.25-1.5" normally. Not idea where the OP is, so northern weather might change it. Very common to spec 1.25" on 6" rock here. It's probably false economy to go less than 1.5" (165 lbs/Sq yard).

If your base is good, the asphalt should last fine.

 

[paulharvey]

We're looking to have part of our driveway paved to help with the mud. We're doing 3000 sq/ft. I'm getting quoted $2/sq/ft for grading (we already have a suitable base) and then putting down 2" of hot rolled asphalt, 2 ton static roller.

Does this price sound good?

That's around 36 tons, or just under two loads. Mobilization for this job is probably nothing more than a small Leeboy, roller, and maybe a grade tractor; one trip on a pintle hook trailer, and send the dump truck for asphalt. Paving it should take all of about 2 hours. So, figure $65×36 for material; maybe 5 guys at $100/day; equipment at $150/hour; seems like he's at about 100% mark up for profit.....

 

[paulharvey]

Make sure your 2" is the same as the asphalt guy's 2".

I had mine done and the guy said he would put down 3" for the agreed price. He did put down 3" but, then he compacted the fluffy 3" down to about 1.5" or less. It only took 3 years for it to start falling apart.

Typically you figure 1/4" per inch compaction. So to get 2" finished, behind the paver; before rolling, you should have 2.5". Now, that already should have a significant amount of compaction from the paver's screed. Lighter pavers, less compaction from the paver. Cut off shoes and spreader boxes=no compaction from the laying operation.

 

[Buppies]

Anything more than 2in of compacted asphalt on a driveway is a waste of your money. Asphalt is a running surface only no structural support at all. The stone underneath is what's important 6in at a minimum. If running 3/4 ton pickups or larger 8in of stone would be better. Around here we use 21A or 21B for the stone. If you can find it virgin mix is better than asphalt with ground up recycled at 20 to 30 percent, but expect to pay premium. Also agree with paulharvey price is quoted per square yard not per square foot

As far as price a 334 square yard driveway in my parts including 6in of stone with 2in of compacted asphalt between $18.00 and $20.00 per square yard. Hope this helps

 

[bigtiller]

Typically you figure 1/4" per inch compaction. So to get 2" finished, behind the paver; before rolling, you should have 2.5". Now, that already should have a significant amount of compaction from the paver's screed. Lighter pavers, less compaction from the paver. Cut off shoes and spreader boxes=no compaction from the laying operation.

"Typically" around here, 3" compacts down to 1".

Everytime i see an old gravel driveway with new asphalt, it is obvious it was laid the same as mine. I don't know what my guy used but i think it was called top coat. And i don't know what your guy used but could it have been base coat?

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My problem is having the UPS and other heavy vehicles coming up the drive. I think they would tear up a 2" in a short time. they are hard on my gravel base driveway.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Paving takes all day! Makes no difference if it's two ton or four thousand tons, It takes all day!!. If you think your getting done early something is about to break or the boss is about to add on another "little job while your right here". It runs 0.057 tons per square yard per inch of compacted depth. From under a light screed it will compact a quarter inch per inch of depth.
In Texas on a good base and driveway traffic including delivery trucks it should last fine. We used to build secondary roads in New England with two feet of base courses, sand, gravel and crushed gravel each eight inches thick then paved it with two inches of 3/4" binder and one inch of 1/2" top. Even with log truck traffic they'd go about fifteen years before their first additional layer of resurfacing, and that is in an area where frost goes down six feet every winter.

 

[rmk700]

Major state roads use 4-4.5" of asphalt in my area. Parking lots and drive ways use 1.25-1.5" normally. Not idea where the OP is, so northern weather might change it. Very common to spec 1.25" on 6" rock here. It's probably false economy to go less than 1.5" (165 lbs/Sq yard).

If your base is good, the asphalt should last fine.

I'm reconstructing a state rd here and the spec is 12" granular barrow, 8" inches of 1" road base course, 6 1/2" of 3/4" asphalt, and 1" of open course (aka seal coat), so basically 7 1/2 " of asphalt.

Even with driveways and plenty of base course in wet conditions, moisture still gets trapped under the asphalt and the base course can get wet and loosen up under the asphalt.

Like others said, bigger vehicle drive on your drive more than you,d think.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I'm reconstructing a state rd here and the spec is 12" granular barrow, 8" inches of 1" road base course, 6 1/2" of 3/4" asphalt, and 1" of open course (aka seal coat), so basically 7 1/2 " of asphalt.

Even with driveways and plenty of base course in wet conditions, moisture still gets trapped under the asphalt and the base course can get wet and loosen up under the asphalt.

Like others said, bigger vehicle drive on your drive more than you,d think.

Your DOT has bought into a line of crap spun out by the Asphalt industry lobbyists. A well built gravel road can carry any truck ever made but does require regular grading to deal with tire action and rain creating wash boards and pot holes. Paving the road both keeps the gravel dry and prevents spinning tire forces from ejecting gravel to the side of the road. This layer of paving does not need to be thick to do it's job as long as the base under it is firm and well drained.
If the base courses pass spec. then they will free drain and no water can get trapped in them if the subgrade is shaped correctly.

 

[rmk700]

Your DOT has bought into a line of crap spun out by the Asphalt industry lobbyists. A well built gravel road can carry any truck ever made but does require regular grading to deal with tire action and rain creating wash boards and pot holes. Paving the road both keeps the gravel dry and prevents spinning tire forces from ejecting gravel to the side of the road. This layer of paving does not need to be thick to do it's job as long as the base under it is firm and well drained.
If the base courses pass spec. then they will free drain and no water can get trapped in them if the subgrade is shaped correctly.

On another section of the same State Rd we are reconstructing, the spec is 12" granular barrow, 6" of 1" base course 4" of concrete lean mix, and finally 10" of concrete. Concrete lobbyist too?? lol

 

[paulharvey]

I'm not trying to fight; just worked for 4.5 years as a county engineering inspector, inspecting roads and road construction. Our standard heavy use/major virgin road ran 12" Type-b stabilized subgrade (4" limerock or ball field clay mixed with native sand), 10" LBR100 limerock (a soft crushed rock with about 50% fines), 2" Sp-12.5, and 1" FC-9.5. We did do some other designs, including 2.5" Sp-19 and 1.5" FC-12.5; black base (2-2.5" Sp or B-12.5, as a base) with another 2" structural coarse and 1" friction.


For the driveways, minor side roads, etc we did 6" limerock on native sand, and the spec often read 1.25" of SP-9.5. As an alternative we allowed 3" of Super pave on compacted soil (sandy around here).

There are basically 3 things that damage a road or driveway.

1: Compaction; every thing we did had density tests; 96% minimum on subgrade (we actually enforced a 98% but legally spec read 96%), 98% on rock, and asphalt was cored for density to confirm readings between 93(min)-98%(max).

2: water; and I'll include freeze thaw for those guys up north (because it's the water in the base freezing that damages). You need to keep the water out of your base; cut swales, add cross draines, ect. Water will destroy a well built road, and will destroy a poorly built road very fast.

3: Time; time destroys everything sooner or later. Drive down a never built out subdivision from 10-15 years ago. The grass will be growing in the cracks; and there will be more cracks then in a well traveled roadway.


The problem people have will asphalt driveways is this... as an inspector I was asked many times "do you know anyone who does a good job at a fair price on asphalt driveways"; my answer was always "no!". People thought I was lying but I wasnt. Guys who know asphalt, and know how to really do it work for major paving outfits, and don't build driveways. There are unbelievably strick specs, and with both QC(quality control; checking quality/inspecting contractors work) and QA (quality assurance; double checking quality/inspecting the inspector); the roads last anywhere from 7 years to 38 years (the 38 year old road was Cr314A; 6" compacted ball field clay with 1.5" of S1 Marshall mix (1/2" rock; old retired spec) with a single chip seal coat added once.


Edit: the post is too long; but the ins and outs of road building; and explaining the "ways" of it, isn't a 10 word response.

Edit the Edit: I'm in North Central Fl; worked in Marion county, Flagler county, and pretty much all of District 2 (18 county's from Georgia line to Gainesville); I don't know where everyone else is from (doesn't show up on app; I guess if you log on with an actual computer it's suppose to show the profile...?)

 

[vtsnowedin]

On another section of the same State Rd we are reconstructing, the spec is 12" granular barrow, 6" of 1" base course 4" of concrete lean mix, and finally 10" of concrete. Concrete lobbyist too?? lol

There most certainly are.

 

[Buppies]

I'm not trying to fight; just worked for 4.5 years as a county engineering inspector, inspecting roads and road construction. Our standard heavy use/major virgin road ran 12" Type-b stabilized subgrade (4" limerock or ball field clay mixed with native sand), 10" LBR100 limerock (a soft crushed rock with about 50% fines), 2" Sp-12.5, and 1" FC-9.5. We did do some other designs, including 2.5" Sp-19 and 1.5" FC-12.5; black base (2-2.5" Sp or B-12.5, as a base) with another 2" structural coarse and 1" friction.


For the driveways, minor side roads, etc we did 6" limerock on native sand, and the spec often read 1.25" of SP-9.5. As an alternative we allowed 3" of Super pave on compacted soil (sandy around here).

There are basically 3 things that damage a road or driveway.

1: Compaction; every thing we did had density tests; 96% minimum on subgrade (we actually enforced a 98% but legally spec read 96%), 98% on rock, and asphalt was cored for density to confirm readings between 93(min)-98%(max).

2: water; and I'll include freeze thaw for those guys up north (because it's the water in the base freezing that damages). You need to keep the water out of your base; cut swales, add cross draines, ect. Water will destroy a well built road, and will destroy a poorly built road very fast.

3: Time; time destroys everything sooner or later. Drive down a never built out subdivision from 10-15 years ago. The grass will be growing in the cracks; and there will be more cracks then in a well traveled roadway.


The problem people have will asphalt driveways is this... as an inspector I was asked many times "do you know anyone who does a good job at a fair price on asphalt driveways"; my answer was always "no!". People thought I was lying but I wasnt. Guys who know asphalt, and know how to really do it work for major paving outfits, and don't build driveways. There are unbelievably strick specs, and with both QC(quality control; checking quality/inspecting contractors work) and QA (quality assurance; double checking quality/inspecting the inspector); the roads last anywhere from 7 years to 38 years (the 38 year old road was Cr314A; 6" compacted ball field clay with 1.5" of S1 Marshall mix (1/2" rock; old retired spec) with a single chip seal coat added once.


Edit: the post is too long; but the ins and outs of road building; and explaining the "ways" of it, isn't a 10 word response.

Edit the Edit: I'm in North Central Fl; worked in Marion county, Flagler county, and pretty much all of District 2 (18 county's from Georgia line to Gainesville); I don't know where everyone else is from (doesn't show up on app; I guess if you log on with an actual computer it's suppose to show the profile...?)

95 percent compaction on the stone base here and 92 percent on the pavement is most common spec here for parking lots and state roads.


Federal ie Blue Ridge Parkway 95 on stone and asphalt. On I81 common depth of asphalt is 8in.

Depending on type of soil and Geotechnical findings determine how much stone base is to be used. City of Roanoke in their spec book requires 8in of asphalt on striped streets 4in on non striped streets. Usually what's there is much less