Asphalt is renowned for its strength and repairability. This toughness and easy repair is fortunate for commercial entities because constant exposure to sunlight and water wears away at the surface.
You can fix asphalt in a variety of ways. There’s skin patching, seal coating (which is more preventative), and asphalt milling – the latter of which is the focus of this article.
Milling asphalt is effective because it allows for in-depth diagnoses and widescale repairs. But what exactly does this form of pavement rehabilitation entail?
Below is a handy guide to better explain asphalt milling, what pavement repairs it addresses, and the different types and benefits.
Milling Blacktop: What Does It Mean?
So, you just read that milling asphalt serves as pavement repair and diagnosis. But how does that work?
Asphalt milling removes the pavement surface to uniformly retexture or create a base for replacement. Milling makes it easier to fix or replace the entire top surface of an asphalt structure without destroying it.
Milling restores surfaces like roads, parking lots, sidewalks, and driveways. Here are the structural issues milling helps to repair:
- Cracking
- Raveling
- Is when aggregate becomes dislodged
- Causing a rough and uneven surface
- Bleeding (or flushing)
- Happens when oil-based asphalt binder fills aggregate voids
Asphalt milling helps contractors better inspect deep structural issues. Surface patching is possible but pointless if you don’t know the underlying problem.
No One Size Fits All: Milling Options
Which milling option you employ depends on the situation. For example, fine milling is when you remove damaged asphalt, repair the foundation, and lay a new surface on top.
The goal is to make the uppermost layer look new. Planing is more complex and is often used on larger properties and major roadways. Planing creates a level surface for vehicular and commercial use.
Planning takes the old, damaged surface and creates an aggregate. This mixture becomes a level surface free of slips and potholes. The final milling option to discuss is micro-milling.
Micro-milling upends the upper layer of asphalt and old pavement repairs. It reveals a fresh surface that bonds better with new pavement resurfacing treatments.
You’ll only remove an inch or less of pavement with micro-milling. This rehabilitation method is considered more preventative maintenance – the point is to keep surface damage from getting worse.
The Benefits of Asphalt Milling
Milling asphalt offers many benefits, making it a smart choice for pavement restoration. One major advantage is that it allows the new overlay to maintain the original pavement elevations and water flow lines. If you skip milling and overlay with a 2-inch layer, the elevations can change, potentially causing water drainage problems and ponding.
Additionally, milling is environmentally friendly because it recycles materials, often using them in other road projects, reducing waste and conserving resources. It’s a sustainable method with no fire, smoke, or high energy consumption, which is better for the environment.
Milling is also cost-effective. Resurfacing just the upper pavement layer is cheaper than repaving the entire road, saving money and causing minimal disruption to traffic, making it a practical choice for road maintenance.
Need Pavement Repairs?
Milling blacktop is a low-cost, versatile, and environmentally-friendly pavement rehabilitation option. But it is only one of many commercial services NVM Pavement & Concrete offers. We also provide:
- Asphalt seal coating, repair, and maintenance
- Asphalt and concrete construction
- Concrete maintenance and coating
- Parking lot striping
We conduct site evaluations with free, no-obligation quotes, so contact us for repairs or maintenance today!
