ASPHALT ANSWERS
Your finished product success begins long
before the asphalt arrives.
Set Yourself Up
For Success
BRIAN HALL
P
erfection. It’s what we all strive
for, whether it’s on the jobsite
or in our personal lives. Some-
times we get close, many times
we fall short, but the pursuit never
should cease. When talking to con-
tractors, I always tell them, “give
yourself the best chance to succeed.”
Athletes study film, work out and
diet. Corporate executives budget, at-
tend seminars and react to trends.
Our military and first responders
spend much of their time preparing so
that nothing surprises them when an
emergency arises. So why should an
asphalt contractor be any different.
From the crew to the foreman to the
estimators, we all should prepare for
any type job or any surprise on any
job. This month, we’ll explore ways
to make sure we’re ready when the
truck hits the job.
www.callape.com
Estimating the jobs. Bringing the right equipment.
The success of a paving job goes far
beyond length, width and depth. This
only holds true if you care about re-
ferrals and repeat business, of course.
When looking at a job, it’s most im-
portant to evaluate why you are pav-
ing the area in the first place. If it is
new construction, how was the base
constructed. Base failure is the big-
gest cause of asphalt erosion so a proof
roll is a must. On overlay jobs, re-
flective cracking is our biggest enemy.
When a customer understands what
might happen if you allow alligator
cracks to remain under an overlay job,
it makes it much easier to apply the
proper warranty. How about weeds?
Where weeds grow, its certain that
there was water, and water means pot-
holes down the road. I’m not talking about the heavy
pieces here like your paver, roller or
skid steer, I’m referring to the auxil-
iary equipment such as blowers, pres-
sure washers or brooms. When we do
an overlay job and allow dust, leaves
and miscellaneous trash to remain on
the paving surface, the finished prod-
uct will certainly suffer. The main
reason being that the tack will adhere
to the dust and trash instead of the
paving surface causing certain failure.
Having a broom and leaf blower on
hand to clear the surface while we are
waiting on asphalt can mean the dif-
ference between a good or great job.
Another prominent issue in overlay
jobs is the presence of oil, grease or
other substances on the surface to be
paved. While it may be hard to com-
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