Drainage is a big deal when it comes to your parking lot and keeping it functional. Any size commercial parking lot paving requires regular asphalt maintenance and repair, and avoiding these tasks could affect your bottom line for various reasons. Especially throughout Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire during the rainy months, it is essential that your parking lot drains appropriately to keep your liability low, avoid large asphalt issues, and to keep the traffic to your building flowing so your business isn’t disrupted. Here are some steps you can take to keep your parking lot drainage repairs top of mind.
Understanding Parking Lot Drainage
If water has no place to escape from your commercial parking lot, it will stay right where it is: on your blacktop. At first glance, it may not seem like that big of a deal. But standing water is bad news for commercial paving in any form, especially high-traffic areas such as parking lots. Your asphalt pavement is made up of aggregates, and each type reacts to water differently. Pavement Interactive says that “aggregate refers generally to granular materials such as sand and gravel that are used in pavement construction.” Each of these materials does allow water to pass through, but if your drainage system wasn’t designed thoughtfully for your specific needs, water could be trapped.
Pavement Interactive also details the importance of proper drain planning for each layer of your asphalt paving. Water with nowhere to go can result in distress to the various layers of your aggregate. If the drainage issue is in the subgrade, you will find that the aggregates are compromised via pore pressure and cannot withstand the loads. Beneath your parking lot and pavement layers is soil, and you must keep in mind that water can easily wash it away, leaving an unstable parking lot. Pooling water does not take long to wreak havoc on your parking lot. It leaves behind a massive amount of deterioration that will be costly to repair and can even close off your parking lot while construction is underway. If your employees and patrons have no way to access your building, you could even business and staff, which will cost you money and negatively impact your bottom line.
Types of Drainage Upgrades
Your company shouldn’t roll the dice when it comes to asphalt services aimed at making a safe environment for your business. There are two ways to repair a faulty parking lot drainage system: surface and subsurface upgrades. At Cassidy Paving, it is rarely a one-size-fits-all approach to correcting defective drainage. Instead, we will combine surface and subsurface best practices to get your parking lot up to standard. For the surface, we can offer an impermeable hot mix layer and an increase of the slope of the overall lot and grading for the curb. The subsurface, the hot mix, and the surrounding curbs must all work in unison to make a proper drainage system.
Need Help with Your Parking Lot?
If you’ve noticed standing water or an increase in deterioration, it is time to give an asphalt paving contractor a call. The team at Cassidy Paving is here to make your parking lot a safe place to drive and walk, but we also want to help you maintain your company’s bottom line and reduce liability. Give us a call today at 866-978-9788 to book a free evaluation of your parking lot paving.
