what to do with a pile of asphalt

[4570Man]

Isn't burying it just like dumping oil on the ground?
Going to poison ground water & kill everyone within 100 miles?

What’s the difference in burying it and leaving it there? Or if it was big deal to begin with maybe using millions of tons of it to build roads isn’t a good idea.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I'd look for a contractor who wants to buy it.

I've hauled lots of waste asphalt and there is no real value it it. The best we got out of it was a free dump as opposed to a per yard fee for construction spoils. In a big hard pile like the Cougsfan has, there is too much work involved to break it down to a useful size.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

What it turns out to be is about a dump truck full of asphalt that someone oddly decided to cover with dirt.

I worked for a dump trucking company on the west side of the state so that piques my curiosity. When they batch too much hot mix, it's never just dumped, it's always brought back to the batch plant and dumped in their waste asphalt pile for later reclaiming. My only other guess is that it might be grindings from a resurfacing project that the previous property owner thought he could use on a driveway or something. After that stuff sits in the hot sun for a few years it becomes about as hard as hot mix. They will often sell that for a song or just give it away if close to the job, just to save trucking costs.

 

[Streetcar]

I think SR has given you a clue as to why the prior owner covered it with earth. Lot's of good suggestions here but turning broken eggs into an omelet, I'd look for a contractor who wants to buy it.

If you are lucky it won’t cost too much to haul away. I cant believe anyone would buy it

 

[Cougsfan]

There are no paving companies nearby to talk to. I talked to the local sand and gravel contractor about it. He just shrugged his shoulders. He said he could bring in his track hoe and load it into a truck and haul it away, but it would cost a lot, he is swamped, and he really had better things to do.
Several years back at my old house, a guy in a pick-up came barreling up to my house and asked me if I wanted a load of asphalt. He had an extra load to a site where they are working and would give it to me for free but I would have to pay to have it spread. I had no need or interest. I then lived about 10 miles away from this site. Maybe this is that same load

 

[plowhog]

a guy in a pick-up came barreling up to my house and asked me if I wanted a load of asphalt. He ... would give it to me for free but I would have to pay to have it spread.

Offering cheap or free "excess asphalt" from another job is a very common scam used by disreputable asphalt companies. In such cases, its just a high pressure sales tactic. No excess material even exists.

If you agree, asphalt gets dumped on your property, but the "spreading fees" and other fees go up and up. Problems are discovered with your property resulting in extra work, all chargeable to you, and it goes on and on.

Before I finished my driveways, I had the same guy knock on my door with the same pitch several times. He always had "excess asphalt" from another nearby job-- but I had to commit right then and there to get a killer deal.

Just for fun, I once told him I couldn't possibly let him do my asphalt work that day, but asked if he would have some "excess asphalt" around the end of the following week. He responded by saying they were doing a "huge commercial parking lot" nearby, and he could order an excessive load for that day to ensure there would be some excess material for me.

Total slimeball.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Try a little diesel on the pile. The diesel will soften the asphalt and make it manageable with your tractor.

Many drivers who hauled asphalt had a small tank sprayer full of diesel to spray the outside areas around the tailgate to keep asphalt from sticking. It was forbidden by the asphalt company to use it inside the box when paving, they provided a soap solution to spray the box. As to your point, he would be risking some serious fines if any government agency found out, and then he would have to hire someone to remove the asphalt and any surrounding contaminated dirt. He described it as being 8 to 10 yards so it would take a lot of diesel and a lot of time.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Offering cheap or free "excess asphalt" from another job is a very common scam used by disreputable asphalt companies. In such cases, its just a high pressure sales tactic. No excess material even exists.

Reputable paving contractors when paving a road, will often ty to sell driveway paving for a reduced price since the crew and equipment are literally at the end of the driveway. It can save the homeowner some coin if he was already thinking of paving and the company gets a little extra profit.

 

[plowhog]

It can save the homeowner some coin if he was already thinking of paving and the company gets a little extra profit.

What I don't understand about that is the site preparation needed for a good asphalt job.

Three separate contractors advised me to remove clay and poor soils to a depth of 6 inches before putting asphalt down. That required heavy equipment for excavation and haul off of many large truckloads of material. Then an equal amount of road base was imported. Then two different sized rollers compacted it. That process took several weeks. Only then was I ready for 3 inches of asphalt to sit on top of it.

The "scammer" had told me I didn't need any prep. He said 2 inch thickness would be fine. My asphalt contractor said it would look fine at first, but in a year or two I would be paying to have it broken up, hauled out, and re-do the job the right way.

Maybe there are homeowners with properly prepared sites who are waiting for a knock on the door to get a deal on asphalt. But I think more likely whoever is buying it doesn't understand what they are doing ...

 

[4570Man]

I've hauled lots of waste asphalt and there is no real value it it. The best we got out of it was a free dump as opposed to a per yard fee for construction spoils. In a big hard pile like the Cougsfan has, there is too much work involved to break it down to a useful size.

Agreed. There’s no way someone is bringing a dump truck and a piece of equipment out to get it even for free much less paying for it.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

What I don't understand about that is the site preparation needed for a good asphalt job.

The good contractors I know of where I worked did the prep work and since it was usually on well compacted already used driveways, there really wasn't that much prep. It would save the home owner most of the coast of transporting the paving machine, rollers and crew but they paid full retail for the asphalt.

 

[Diggin It]

Maybe there are homeowners with properly prepared sites ...

Me. I'm on a hill of hard packed red rock gravel. Nearly impossible to get a shovel into. Contractor that laid the county water supply main nearly stood a full sized track hoe on the nose. Guy that dug my water line from there to the house had trouble digging with a full sized backhoe.

When I had my driveway paved, that contractor just used a smaller machine to scrape the surface level.

I most likely would not have gone with a door knocker guy though.

 

[plowhog]

A Google search returned a surprising number of returns about asphalt driveway paving scams. The State of WA AG has issued a consumer alert about these. The first one, below, is from Wenatchee WA and sums up what many have experienced:

"An apparent paving scam rolled through Wenatchee a few weeks ago, and left a real mess on the doorsteps of three unhappy customers. Jefferson Robbins hit the street, and came back with this report.

On Sept. 16, Joni Eller saw paving crews working on her neighbor’s driveway. A company called United Paving, based out of Spokane and Moses Lake, offered her the same kind of work, the same day, for about $2,700.

“They came over and started working on my driveway as it was getting dark,” Eller says. “I was surprised they were starting in the dark, but I also understood that they had done a lot of roadwork, so I assumed that they were used to working in the dark.”

An hour and a half later, Joni had a poorly chip-sealed driveway, and a bill for $4,400, payable right then. Two of her neighbors, who asked for their shared drive to be chip-sealed, paid a total of $8,300. The work was poor, tar ran off into the gutters, and suddenly the contractors were gone.

“By the time I could come out and look at the finished product the next morning, they’d already cashed my check at the bank,” Joni says. “I have no recourse.”

We tried to reach out to United Paving and its contractor, Charles Gallagher, but the phone number on its paperwork is disconnected. No company by that name is listed in records with the Washington Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue.

Now Joni and her neighbors are stuck with the shoddy work, until their driveways can be torn down and repaved — which may not happen before winter."

https://www.ncwlife.com/ncwlife-evening-news-october-1-2019/

https://www.atg.wa.gov/all-consuming-blog/beware-asphalt-paving-scams

https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/consumer-alert-beware-asphalt-paving-scams

Avoid Asphalt Scams! - Asphalt Pavement Association of Michigan

BBB Scam Alert: Need a new driveway? Look out for asphalt paving scams - Odessa American

The Odessa American is the leading source of local news, information, entertainment and sports for the Permian Basin.

www.oaoa.com

Police warn people to be wary of ‘extra asphalt’ driveway-paving scams

State police are warning people not to fall for a common bait-and-switch scam in which a promise of cheap driveway paving through the use of “extra asphalt” turns into an expensive fraud.“Paving scams like this occur regularly in New Hampshire and...

www.concordmonitor.com

BBB Scam Alert: Need a new driveway? Look out for asphalt paving scams

Got an offer to pave your driveway for cheap? Scam contractors are tricking homeowners with supposedly good deals on asphalt paving.

www.bbb.org

Protect Yourself And Learn The Most Common Asphalt Paving Scams In 2023!

Asphalt paving scams are very real. Everyday, homeowners are scammed by asphalt contractors that have one goal in mind. To get in, get out get payed fast leaving a trail of horrific work behind them.

allaboutdriveways.com

Blog | Reliable Paving Inc.

reliablepaving.com

TN AG warns of scammers who claim to have extra asphalt to pave your driveway

The Tennessee Attorney General's Office warns of a driveway paving scam where scammers come to your door and claim to have leftover asphalt from another job that they will use on your driveway and save you money.

www.newschannel5.com

https://www.anythingasphalt.com/crevecoeurpavingblog/top-10-ways-to-spot-traveling-asphalt-crews-aka-gypsies-or-fly-by-night-contractors

Beware of Scammer Paving Companies in the Area

The company has also stated they are based in Early, Texas.

www.brownwoodnews.com

 

[Cougsfan]

A follow up:
After looking at this pile of asphalt for several years, and not seeing a practical solution, I decided to try something, anything. The pile was probably dumped straight from a dump truck and not rolled and compacted. If you attacked it with an FEL like your supposed to use an FEL it was like hitting a giant rock. However I found that if I turned my bucket to point straight down, lowered the FEL onto the pile until the front wheels were off the ground, putting the entire weight of the front end of the tractor on the leading edge of the FEL, then backed up a few feet; it make a horrible screeching, scraping sound, but would pulverize the asphalt. I know this will be considered by many as inappropriate, horrible, unacceptable abuse of my FEL, but it worked surprisingly well! It took literally hundreds and hundreds of small bits and an entire day to pulverize the entire pile into what equals a dump truck full of heavily oiled, fine gravel. The Branson FEL stood up well and I can't see that it damaged anything at all. Yesterday I spread the pulverized asphalt out on my 1/4 mile of driveway where it should make a good road material. Today I still need to go out drag the drive with my chain harrow to mix it with the gravel, and pick up the larger pieces that didn't pulverize, but there really aren't that many large pieces. I am so glad to have that ugly pile of asphalt finally gone!

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the update. There is more then one way to use a FEL!!!!