Big Easy Concrete: Your Go-To New Orleans Concrete Paving Contractors

Concrete paving continues to be one of the most in-demand projects during construction. With the rise of more concrete paving contractors in New Orleans, the quality of work is becoming better. According to the ACPA Wiki, concrete pavements are used for driveways, roadways, highways, industrial areas, and airfields. For any paving services, you would have the option to choose between concrete and asphalt.

Comparison Between Concrete and Asphalt Paving

There are a lot of things to consider when deciding between asphalt and concrete. The composition of the materials is the first factor that makes the difference.

Asphalt is a hot mix of sand, gravel, and stones, all of which are called aggregates. These would be mixed with liquid asphalt which holds the mixture together to form the asphalt we use.

Concrete construction is one of the most common manmade materials used all around the world. It is important to note that concrete is different from cement.

Cement is made from limestone and clay and serves as a paste that holds concrete together.

Concrete has a mixture of aggregates like sand and rocks, air, water, and cement. This makes it one of the best and strongest materials in the world for building.

Differences in Safety: Concrete and Asphalt

Concrete is more durable than asphalt and there will be less need for repairs. This makes a huge difference for areas that are always busy and would need to always be available. This applies to roads, driveways, and highways. There would be less disruption and there would be increased safety for people using the roads. Concrete is a better choice in avoiding car skidding and other accidents.

Lifespan and Maintenance of Concrete and Asphalt

With the durability of concrete, you can expect it to last for as long as 20 to 40 years. Asphalt can last between 15-25 years with annual maintenance. Asphalt would need more frequent repairs compared to concrete paving.

Lighting and Electric Effects

Concrete is lighter in color and can be reflective while asphalt comes out darker. This affects their ability to either absorb or reflect light and heat. Darker colors absorb more heat which means it will be hotter to pass by on dark colored roads made from asphalt.

Concrete is much cooler and makes it suitable for pavements for residential and commercial uses. There would be a need for less air conditioning which makes it cooler and there would be less electricity.

For areas with concrete pavement, there would be less lighting needed compared to places with asphalt. There is better visibility even for indoor areas when you use concrete.

For businesses with parking lots, having a concrete parking lot helps with lighting. This helps improve your establishment’s overall feel and safety because people can see better. These will be great assets for businesses.

The Rule for Commercial Concrete Paving

There are important guidelines that commercial concrete paving or asphalt pavement should follow to ensure its quality. Failure to follow these can result in early damages that would need excess repairs.

Here are the requirements that should be met for quality pavements:

• Structural strength and integrity for carrying and withstanding all stresses.
• The high-grade thickness should help balance the distribution of weight load on the sub-grade soil.
• Level and smooth surfaces can be comfortable, especially for roads
  Enough level of surface friction to prevent skidding of cars and other vehicles.
• The surface should be free from dust so that it does not interfere with visibility.
• Pavement should not produce too much noise even while vehicles pass by.
• Pavement surface should stay impervious to protect the subgrade soil that it stands on.
• It should be able to have a long design life with inexpensive maintenance costs.

Different Types of New Orleans Concrete Paving Services

There are two main types of pavements that are categorized based on their structure: flexible and rigid pavements. Flexible pavements can be compared to flexible sheets while rigid ones are like rigid plates.

Flexible Pavements

Flexible pavements have multiple layers. The top layer is the most important part as it has to be able to withstand stress and activity. The lowest layers can be made from fewer quality materials because it will be at the bottom.

There are different types of flexible pavements like:

• Conventional flexible pavements – the most common type of flexible pavements. The top layer is high quality and the lowest part is made from low-quality materials.
• Full-depth asphalt pavements – asphalt layers are placed directly on the sub-grade soil and used in high traffic areas.
• Contained rock asphalt mats – Two asphalt layers contain asphalt aggregate layers, This will be placed on sub-grade soil to help protect it from surface water.

Rigid Pavements

Rigid pavements function by leveling a load of weight and stresses among the whole rigid plate. The pavements can be placed directly on the prepared subgrade or over a stabilized material. It can be a base or subbase layer.

Different types of rigid pavements include:

• Jointed plate concrete pavement – these are made from the plain pavement. They are placed together with spaced joints. Dowel bars or interlocks hold these together for load transfer across the joints.
• Jointed reinforced concrete pavement – The reinforcements help widen the spacing of the joints by 10 to 30 centimeters. There are also dowel bars that can help with load transfer. These reinforcements help in keeping the slabs together even if there will be cracks.
• Continuous reinforced concrete pavement – the pavement is made strong using long slabs and reinforced bars which limits the cracks. The longitudinal position helps limit the shrinkage or cracking of the pavement. This is commonly used for airplane runways or highway works. A large amount of aggregate is used for the pavement.

There is much work involved in ensuring that concrete paving is top quality and will last for a long time. Whether for residential or commercial purposes, we are contractors that can help you achieve durability. Big Easy Concrete’s promise is to service fellow natives in New Orleans. Contact us for all your concrete paving needs.