Unfortunately human nature tends to pull back and mistakenly halt maintenance when times get tough even though it is contrary to common sense. Many feel unwarranted fear that adding preventive maintenance costs to the purchase cost of asphalt will make it more expensive than concrete. In fact life-cycle costing proves the opposite making asphalt the pavement of choice over harder to maintain concrete pavement.

We all know that a few dollars spent up front can save big money in days to come. So, why do we do it, especially when we are talking about preserving one of the most expensive assets we have?

Here are some things to consider when looking at Asphalt Preservation:

Understanding the costs.
Asphalt Preservation is about saving money and it makes a lot of sense too. At Gee, we believe it boils down to a lack of understanding of just how much money is to be saved vs. how much future rehabilitation, partial reconstruction and/or complete replacement costs can add up. The most important number to watch is the Pavement Life-Cycle Cost, which is obtained by adding the cost of treatments and dividing by the years of service. When finding the lowest life-cycle cost treatment you will also find the best value even though the initial cost appears to be higher!

So here is the low down. The future savings as determined by research of the National Center for Pavement Preservation are: One Dollar spent today for preservation reduces future replacement costs up to ten dollars and eighty cents! Factor in the astronomical cost of petroleum today, and what it might cost tomorrow or next year and the case for preservation gets even better.

Address pavements while they are still in good condition.
Applying environmentally sound preservation treatments to the surface of pavements is most effective for sustaining the life of a pavement if applied when the pavement is still in good condition.

But, even more effective, is applying the first preservation treatment at an early stage in the life-cycle of any pavement when it is most structurally sound. The pavement can actually be preserved in its original condition!

Preservation avoids excessive down time and closures.
Performing a series of short successive preservation treatments during the life of a pavement is significantly less disruptive to traffic flow than the long closures required for pavement reconstruction activities. Your customers will enjoy longer periods of uninterrupted service along with the highest quality like-new pavement surfaces. On average, a pavement is ready for use just a few hours after the preservation treatment! Examples of preventive treatments include:

• Asphalt crack sealing
• Sealer Binders
• Fog sealing
• Chip sealing
• Slurry or micro-surfacing
• Hot mix asphalt overlay
• Isolated and partial and/or full-depth repairs to restore functionality of the asphalt pavement.

A good asphalt preservation strategy includes a planned system of inspection, analysis, and application of carefully selected performance/cost oriented preservation processes. The cumulative effect of a good preservation treatment strategy is significant postponement of costly rehabilitation and reconstruction and sustainable, low-cost pavements!