This is asked everyday by Facility Managers and Property Managers. The answer is never popular. Yes you have to mill and possibly perform full depth asphalt repairs on spider web asphalt areas. In some cases the sub-base may need to be removed and replaced.
The key to what action to take is to look at your parking lot as a living and moving surface. Ask yourself why is this asphalt failing. Is it drainage, heavy traffic, geological factors in the sub-base, or just 20 year old asphalt.
Commercial Asphalt Milling is a cost effective asphalt paving solution because it allows the surrounding finish elevations to remain the same( curb reveal), while being significantly less expensive than a complete dig out.
We begin this process by milling or grinding to a specific depth to remove the damaged spider web top coat asphalt . The milled material is loaded on the trucks and hauled from the site. Some areas where vegetation growth or water damage have caused the binder to break may require a full-depth asphalt repair. These areas are where the binder areas are either cracked or damaged or the sub-base has geological factors, such as clay or other water problems. Sometimes the weight of the milling machine and trucks hauling away the milling will proof test these areas. Site inspection is recommended to confirm all areas of concern.
Once these areas are defined, a full depth repair is performed at these areas in order to stabilize the sub-base and parking lot’s binder structural integrity. Once the milling is complete and full depth repairs are completed, the surface is cleaned via vacuum sweeping, street metal and catch basins are prepared, hot emulsion tack coat is applied, the surface is true and leveled for drainage purposes, and a new compacted asphalt layer can be installed. This new surface can be line striped and reopened to customers faster then any other paving method. If properly done and with proper maintenance, this parking lot will last as long as a new parking lot installation.