parking lot maintenance

7 Parking Lot Maintenance Reminders

Parking lot maintenance reminders are extremely helpful to maximize the life of your asphalt or concrete parking lot. Helpful tips usually involve carefully inspecting the surfaces, regularly sweeping for debris, quickly repairing any signs of cracks larger than a quarter inch wide, and resurfacing pavement when needed. Consistently performing the appropriate repairs and maintenance will ensure your last longer, which saves you money over the life of your parking lot.

Creating regular parking lot maintenance reminders prevents larger issues that always seem to happen at the worst time and necessitate costly emergency repairs. A parking lot would be like any other usual surface except for the fact vehicles are driving and parking and leaking on it on it all day long. This kind of wear and tear puts a lot of pressure on concrete and asphalt surfaces. Throw daily rain into the mix like we experience here in florida, your parking lot is definitely going to need regular TLC. For those planning to build a parking plot (or any asphalt or concrete surface) in your next construction project,  the actual installation of parking lot surfaces is equally important to overall longevity, so make sure it’s done right the first time. We at ARC Development can make sure it’s done perfectly. In the meantime, here are 5 parking lot maintenance tips:

Valuable Parking Lot Maintenance Tips

1.  Add Sealcoating To Parking Lot Surfaces

This is one of the most important, if not THE MOST, tip we’re providing. A fresh layer of sealcoat regularly every couple years will help prevent breakdown of materials. It will also stop water, debris and other harmful elements from degrading your pavement. Sealcoating intervals are determined by how much traffic your parking lot gets, so if you see a high amount of wear and tear on your parking lot, give it some sealcoat. If you don’t want to deal with it, give us a call. We can put you on a regular maintenance schedule. 

2. Clean Parking Lot Surfaces Regularly

Cleaning parking lot surfaces regularly will help prevent a lot of damage a parking lot surface receives over its lifetime. Once a month or more, surfaces should be cleaned of all debris, including garbage and leaves. This is also the time to clean up any fuel or oil, which will deteriorate surfaces if left for too long.

Leaking vehicles are unavoidable in parking lots but oil can wreak havoc over pavement surfaces. Oil breaks down surfaces, creates ugly blemishes, and ultimately degrades your parking lot. There are myriad of methods used to clean oil stain but just make sure it’s cleaned up on a regular basis. 

3. Inspect Parking Lots Carefully For Cracks, Stains, & Other Damages

Once a week, take the time to inspect surfaces for cracks, fading, or other imperfections that could potentially lead to liability issues. The sooner you identify issues the less expensive it will be to make repairs. 

4. Fix Cracks Immediately

Cracks that measure wider than ¼-inch are typically good candidates for repairs. Water is the reason for road repair in Florida  so a crack in your pavement is a wide open door for harm. In addition to water seeping into cracks, watch out for vegetation. If you see weeds springing up you should take care of that right away. The root systems can grow over time and cause irreversible damage.  People can also trip over them, which you leaves open to liability.. Plus, you’re helping create a stronger, dryer and more solid surface. Some cracks are too small to require sealant, but any crack that is big enough to benefit from sealant should be taken care of right away.

5. Redesign Your Parking Lot Occasionally

Change isn’t always bad. If the traffic flow is wearing down certain areas of your parking lot, you should make right of way changes from time to time.  New striping will balance the wear and tear and extend the life of the parking lot. When you make changes to parking lot design, remember to be in compliance with ADA guidelines because they are very strict. 

6. Handle Parking Lot Drainage Issues ASAP

Parking lots require proper drainage in order to survive rain, snow and other influxes of water. Backed up drains are the same as having no drain, and this creates an unsightly and potentially noxious smelling issue.  Without having proper drainage, rain water will pool on top of parking lot surfaces and seep into the surface, especially if you don’t have a good coat of sealcoat. This is setting the stage for a lot of future damage and expensive repair. Water damage is the number one enemy of concrete and asphalt, so do your best to make sure your parking lot has more than adequate draining capabilities. 

7. Rely On ARC Development

ARC Development pours premium, commercial parking lots that are built to last. With tens of thousands of hours  of experience, we are true masters of parking lot installations and repairs. As solution providers and problem solvers, our impeccable testimonials speak themselves. Contact us today for a quote on your next project.

Asphalt Paving Companies Have Work To Do Post Hurricane Irma


Water Damage Abounds

Asphalt paving companies in Florida are going to have their work cut out for them, as water is number one nemesis of concrete and asphalt, and the number one cause for road repair. Irma dropped a ton of rain and caused extensive flooding over the state, which will result in ensuing road repairs all over the state.

In addition to winds over 100 mph, Hurricane Irma dropped so much water that Florida roads were able to accommodate leisure activities usually confined to our lakes rivers, like wakeboarding in Miami. Miami was hit super hard and asphalt paving companies are going to be tested.

Flooding in the roads was more prolific in southwestern parts of the state and the keys, and asphalt paving companies are going to be busy in the six months, because water is absorbed into the ground and the porous rocks beneath the roads, weakening their integrity and causing sinkholes. Studies conducted on the subject of water saturation and concrete confirmed the following facts about concrete and asphalt paving:

  • The compressive strength of concrete is reduced when it is water-saturated. This is primarily caused by the absorption effect of water, manifested in its splitting action in the micro-fissures and micro-formations of stressed concrete. But with other conditions being constant, the fresher the concrete, the lower is the reduction in strength. The effectiveness of the advantageous infuence of deformation constraint of lateral expansion on the strength of compressed concrete in the water-saturated state is lower than in the air-dry state.
  • If the tensile deformation of concrete is strongly constrained, like in strongly constrained conditions of action of concrete, then the absorption effect of water on its strength is negligible.
  • Constraint on the expansion of water-saturated concrete in underwater or water-washed conduits in hydraulic structures, especially tunnel linings, may considerably improve its strength.

 

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Roads are going to be stressed and weakened from the rain dumped by Hurricane Irma, so be aware and careful as you drive. If your roads or parking lots need repair or fortifying after Hurricane Irma, or you need the best asphalt paving company who knows how to work with the elements and constantly changing situations to build long lasting roads and parking lots, we can help.

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    white-pavement-tampa

    White Pavement Is Keeping Los Angeles Cooler During Heat Wave

    During one of the most intense heat waves in Southern California this past week, residents are saying it’s not as bad as it used to be thanks to white pavement, or cool pavement, paving their streets. The experiment was initiated by Los Angeles City councilman Bob Blumenfield, whose constituency resides in the blazing hot southwest San Fernando valley, where temperatures regularly exceed 100 degrees.

    What the city did was apply a light gray seal across a blistering half-block stretch of Jordan Avenue and the residents have noticed the cooler temperatures.

    Since then, the battleship-gray reflective street surfaces have been added to short blocks in Arleta, Northridge and Hyde Park. Two more are slated to be laid down today in west Los Angeles, among 15 pilot projects across the city.

    “It’s cooler,” said Jimenez, whose two daughters translated her Spanish comments outside their Jordon Villa apartment, where they’d set up a portable pool in temperatures that reached a high this week at 104 degrees. “The heat is not so bad.”

    The goal of city officials with the white pavement is to reduce the road temperatures and cool the insides of the nearby buildings goal, as well as lessening air pollution and reducing the threat of deaths linked to increasingly hotter heat waves.

    If this white pavement experiment is successful, the CoolSeal coating invented by GuardTop LLC could be added to thousands of miles of pending Los Angeles road upgrades.

    In a city whose summer temperatures have risen an average 10 degrees in the past century because of increasing sprawls of asphalt, parking lots, roofs and more, Los Angeles city officials say the reflective white pavement roadways may help tone down the concrete baking expected to be get worse and worse.

    The gray streets of white pavement could cost between $25,000 and $40,000 per mile and last five to seven years — a cost subject to change pending product and pavement innovation, city and GuardTop officials say.

    After a week of blistering heat, a random test on the narrow street north of the Los Angeles River lined with two-story apartment buildings was conducted by three officials. Coincidentally, each arrived separately after the sun apexed on Thursday to measure the effectiveness of the white pavement coating applied May 20.

    Patrick Carrigan, an assistant engineer for General Services, pointed a handheld laser thermometer at the gray surface darkened by a month of road grime. It read 138 degrees. He then aimed it at the unpainted crossroad at Hart Street and Jordan Avenue.

    “See look at that: 149 degrees, an 11-degree difference,” said Carrigan, on his second visit to Jordan Avenue, which he tested in addition to the three other reflective road sites. “The total average spread is about a 10-degree difference between black-to-gray.”

    Blumenfield got similar results, as did a GuardTop executive who dropped by later with another handheld thermometer. Each recorded slightly higher temperatures toward the middle of the gray-painted street stained dark by tires and other road residue.

    Two years ago, the councilman had passed a motion to test a new cool pavement that, with more trees and reflective rooftop solar panels, he thought could counter longer and extreme heat waves.

    After rigorous testing of the CoolSeal coating for durability and wet skid potential, it was first applied at a Sepulveda Basin parking lot. Summer surface temperatures fell from 20 to 25 degrees.

    “It’s great,” said Blumenfield, a former state assemblyman who arrived in a gray suit, blue shirt and fuschia tie. “It’s forward-thinking … it’s a vision for a cooler San Fernando Valley, Canoga Park and Los Angeles.

    “It means health … life and death for people. It’s not an academic exercise. If we lowered the temperature in this community, it would mean cost savings for everyone inside and out.”

    Among the rows of aging apartments with names like Jordan Villa, Jordan Casa and Jordan Terrace flanked by blooming magnolias or the occasional palm, residents said they already felt the cool.

    “Now, it’s a few degrees cooler,” Jimenez said of her apartment. “We like it. If it wasn’t for this street, the heat wave would make my apartment hotter.”

    “I feel a slight difference on the street and inside my apartment,” said Priscilla Corleto, 24, walking Gatsby, her small white Shih Tzu. “Without the AC, it seems cooler.

    “It’s good. I like it. I think it’s a success.”

    Florida could certainly stand to benefit from white pavement roads, as average yearly temperatures here have been increasing too. Innovation is about solving problems and it isn’t limited to technology. Old practices like paving roadways can evolve to lessen the impact of increasing temperatures amongst urban sprawl.

    arc-development-florida-construction

    Despite Construction Labor Shortage, Sector Powers Florida Job Growth in 2017

    A third of all new jobs created in the last year in Florida occurred within the construction sector. Florida has enjoyed  robust economic resurgence that’s been a windfall to the construction companies. So much so that construction companies are experiencing a labor shortage to meet demand.

    “Florida businesses have created 1.4 million jobs over the past six and a half years and our unemployment rate has dropped to the lowest in a decade, which is further proof that our efforts to cut taxes and grow the economy is helping our state become a national leader in job creation,” says Gov. Rick Scott.

    The labor shortage for construction in Florida can be attributed to a variety of factors. During the shale and fracking boom, many skilled laborers left Florida and headed west. Many workers are aging and there aren’t young workers to take their place. A labor shortage means compensation rises, which in turn raises the cost and extends the completion time to build new developments.

    Construction work in Florida isn’t for the faint of heart and the average age of an iron worker is 41. Lowering that age means more young people need to be trained, except it’s hard work and millennials as a generation are showing a predilection for seeking easier ways to earn a living. Until recently, the average age for new construction workers in Florida is about 28 years old,  which is 10 years removed from the times workers began training out of high school, except high schools don’t prepare kids for career using vocational or tradesman skills. Fewer high schools teach shop class and funding for vocational schools is all but gone. This has been caused by a ideological shift in education, where every kid is prepared for college, whether it suits their nature or not.

    Sitting at a desk and pushing papers around 8 hours a day isn’t for everyone. While challenging, construction is a satisfying career of building a new world and creating value for the community. In the upcoming years, Florida is expected to increase construction in transit and rail transportation, higher education, hospitals, retail and warehouse, offices, apartments, residential, and highway and public buildings, including schools. As an industry, construction and builders can do a better job recruiting talent and enticing young people to pursue a career in construction, or else the cost and time to complete jobs will continue to rise.

    But despite the labor shortages, ARC Development is known throughout the industry for our ability to take on projects and finish them as quickly and efficiently as possible without sacrificing worksmanship or going over budget. Our testimonials attest that we’re a leader in the sector.

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      What Are Roads Made Of?

      Wondering what are roads made of may have only been a fleeting thought you pondered one day while waiting for the “Walk” signal at a crosswalk, but a thorough answer requires traveling way back through antiquity to look at where roads first came from before we examine the roads of modern day.

      The first roads appeared in the Stone Age to facilitate the need of transporting goods when primitive humans discovered that using pack animals like donkeys and horses were more efficient than using their heads. A travois is a frame developed to be used on roads in Eurasia that is believed to be the first vehicle.  In about 5000 BC, sleds developed, which are more harder to build than travois, but are easier to guide over smooth surfaces, thus necessitating smoother roads. As a result, by about 5000 BC roads, including the Ridgeway, developed along ridges in England to avoid getting stuck while crossing rivers. In central Germany, such ridgeways remained the predominant form of long-distance road till the mid 18th century.

      This leads to perhaps the most important human technological advancement of all time, the wheel, which appears to have been created in ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC.  It is believed they were used to help reduce the resistance of the ground by being attached under sleds. Some say logs were first used under sleds but as of now there is no archaeological evidence to support this fact.  It has been observed that most early wheels appear to have been attached to fixed axles, which would have required regular lubrication to be effective, perhaps by vegetable oil, leather, or animal fats. Roads needed to evolve from cleared dirt to serve this new dependence on wheeled vehicles.

      The first roads were made of stone and developed in urban areas in Ur in 4000 BC. Advancements in stone cutting made cutting tools more widely available in the Middle East and Greece, where local roads were paved. The best road of the time was constructed by the Minoans that extended 50 km from Knossos in north Crete through the mountains to the port town of Labena that had side drainage and a 200 mm thick pavement made of sandstone blocks bound with clay gypsum mortar that was covered by a layer of basaltic flagstones. This road was a precursor to modern roads with it’s shoulders.

      Asphalt

      What are roads made of today? We’ve made some leaps since the times of the Romans. Modern roads went from gravel to cobblestone and granite to asphalt and concrete poured over a compacted base course. Asphalt is sometimes called flexible pavement due to the way it distributes loads and its been widely used since the 1920s. “The viscous nature of the bitumen binder allows asphalt concrete to sustain significant plastic deformation, although fatigue from repeated loading over time is the most common failure mechanism. Most asphalt surfaces are laid on a gravel base, which is generally at least as thick as the asphalt layer, although some ‘full depth’ asphalt surfaces are laid directly on the native subgrade. In areas with very soft or expansive subgrades such as clay or peat, thick gravel bases or stabilization of the subgrade with Portland cement or lime may be required. Polypropylene and polyester geosynthetics have also been used for this purpose[1] and in some northern countries, a layer of polystyrene boards have been used to delay and minimize frost penetration into the subgrade.[2]” Depending on the temperature at which it is applied, asphalt is categorized as hot mix, warm mix, or cold mix. Hot mix asphalt is applied at temperatures over 300 °F (150 °C) with a free floating screed. Warm mix asphalt is applied at temperatures of 200–250 °F (95–120 °C), resulting in reduced energy usage and emissions of volatile organic compounds.[3] Cold mix asphalt is often used on lower-volume rural roads, where hot mix asphalt would cool too much on the long trip from the asphalt plant to the construction site.[4]

      An asphalt concrete surface will generally be constructed for high-volume primary highways having an average annual daily traffic load greater than 1200 vehicles per day.[5] Advantages of asphalt roadways include relatively low noise, relatively low cost compared with other paving methods, and perceived ease of repair. Disadvantages include less durability than other paving methods, less tensile strength than concrete, the tendency to become slick and soft in hot weather and a certain amount of hydrocarbon pollution to soil and groundwater or waterways.

      In the mid-1960s, rubberized asphalt was used for the first time, mixing crumb rubber from used tires with asphalt. While a potential use for tires that would otherwise fill landfills and present a fire hazard, rubberized asphalt has shown greater incidence of wear in freeze-thaw cycles in temperate zones due to non-homogeneous expansion and contraction with non-rubber components. Also, application of rubberized asphalt is more temperature-sensitive, and in many locations can only be applied at certain times of the year.

      When it comes to long term acoustic benefits of rubberized asphalt, the results are inconclusive. Initial application of rubberized asphalt may provide 3–5 decibels (dB) reduction in tire-pavement source noise emissions; however, this translates to only 1–3 decibels (dB) in total traffic noise level reduction (due to the other components of traffic noise). Compared to traditional passive attenuating measures (e.g., noise walls and earth berms), rubberized asphalt provides shorter-lasting and lesser acoustic benefits at typically much greater expense.

       

      Concrete

       

      Concrete surfaces are created using a concrete mix of Portland cement, coarse aggregate, sand and water. In virtually all modern mixes there will also be various admixtures added to increase workability, reduce the required amount of water, mitigate harmful chemical reactions and color. In many cases there will also be Portland cement substitutes added, such as fly ash. This can reduce the cost of the concrete and improve its physical properties. The material is applied in a freshly mixed slurry, and worked mechanically to compact the interior and force some of the cement slurry to the surface to produce a smoother, denser surface free from honeycombing. The water allows the mix to combine molecularly in a chemical reaction called hydration.

      Concrete surfaces have been refined into three common types: jointed plain (JPCP), jointed reinforced (JRCP) and continuously reinforced (CRCP). The one item that distinguishes each type is the jointing system used to control crack development.

      • Jointed plain concrete pavements contain enough joints to control the location of all the expected shrinkage cracks. The concrete cracks at the joints and not elsewhere in the slabs. Jointed plain pavements do not contain any steel reinforcement. However, there may be smooth steel bars at transverse joints and deformed steel bars at longitudinal joints. The spacing between transverse joints is typically about 15 feet (4.6 m) for slabs 7 to 12 inches (180 to 300 mm) thick. Today, a majority of US state agencies build jointed plain pavements.
      • Jointed reinforced concrete pavements contain steel mesh reinforcement (sometimes called distributed steel). In jointed reinforced concrete pavements, designers increase the joint spacing purposely, and include reinforcing steel to hold together intermediate cracks in each slab. The spacing between transverse joints is typically 30 feet (9.1 m) or more. In the past, some agencies used a spacing as great as 100 feet (30 m). During construction of the interstate system, most agencies in the Eastern and Midwestern United States laid jointed-reinforced pavement. Today only a handful of agencies employ this design, and its use is generally not recommended by professional contractors as both of the other types offer better performance and are easier to repair.
      • Continuously reinforced concrete pavements do not require any transverse contraction joints. Transverse cracks are expected in the slab, usually at intervals of 3 to 5 ft (0.91 to 1.52 m). These pavements are designed with enough steel, 0.6–0.7% by cross-sectional area, so that cracks are held together tightly. Determining an appropriate spacing between the cracks is part of the design process for this type of pavement.

      Continuously reinforced designs may cost slightly more than jointed reinforced or jointed plain designs due to increased quantities of steel. Often the cost of the steel is offset by the reduced cost of concrete because a continuously reinforced design is nearly always significantly thinner than a jointed design for the same traffic loads. Properly designed, the two methods should demonstrate similar long-term performance and cost-effectiveness. A number of agencies have made policy decisions to use continuously reinforced designs in their heavy urban traffic corridors.

      One of the major advantages of concrete pavements is they are typically stronger and more durable than asphalt roadways. They also can be grooved to provide a durable skid-resistant surface. A notable disadvantage is that they typically can have a higher initial cost, and can be more time-consuming to construct. This cost can typically be offset through the long life cycle of the pavement. Concrete pavement can be maintained over time utilizing a series of methods known as concrete pavement restoration which include diamond grinding, dowel bar retrofits, joint and crack sealing, cross-stitching, etc. Diamond grinding is also useful in reducing noise and restoring skid resistance in older concrete pavement.[7][8]

      A little bit of trivia, the first street in the United States to be paved with concrete was Court Avenue in Bellefontaine, Ohio in 1893. The first mile of concrete pavement in the United States was on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan in 1909.

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        road repair

        The Number 1 Reason For Road Repair in Florida

        Even though they handle thousand pound vehicles driving on them all day and night, road repair is required from time to time. In Florida, it’s common for roads to experience sinkholes, cave ins, potholes, and depressions. These damages can alter the flow of traffic, sometimes instantly, and create an immediate hazard or danger.

        What can have such a profoundly destructive impact on concrete and asphalt? Water. Water is usually the primary reason necessitating road repair. Water damage underlines the importance of preventative sealing applications.

        Why is water so damaging to concrete and asphalt roads?

        Unless the sealing mentioned above isn’t applied, water will penetrate the asphalt or concrete and seep underneath into the base material, weakening it, and cracking as traffic continues to drive over it, eventually forming a pothole. If the new asphalt isn’t packed properly, water will continue to seep in and future road repair will be necessary.

        “In the last five years, 16 million drivers across the country have suffered pothole damage to their vehicles,” said John Nielsen, AAA’s managing director of Automotive Engineering and Repair. “The problems range from tire punctures and bent wheels, to more expensive suspension damage.”

        Road repair can become costly over time, some studies have the damage cost to U.S. drivers at over $3 billion per year, which is why getting roads built properly the first time around is so important. You know who you can trust with that, ARC Development.