The benefits of the top three green paving asphalt products
When a person walks, drives, or rolls along a smooth asphalt surface, they don’t typically give much thought to how that asphalt might impact the global environment. It’s important to recognize however, that the use of asphalt as a paving material actually has environmental benefits beyond the improving of automobile fuel economy. Green paving contractors have a role to play in reducing how much goes to the landfill every year.
Warm-mix Asphalt
Warm-mix asphalt is a generic term that describes the ability of green paving contractors to lower the temperatures at which asphalt paving materials are mixed and placed in position.
The benefits of warm-mix asphalt include:
● Cutting fuel consumption and energy costs
● Decreased production of greenhouse gases
● Better compaction of the asphalt pavement
● The ability to recycle pavement at higher rates
In addition, the warm-mix asphalt allows green paving contractors the ability to pave at lower temperatures, which extends the paving season.
Porous asphalt
Porous asphalt mixes were developed in the 1930s and 1940s with the intent of reducing dangerous storm runoff. Porous asphalt’s secret to success is in giving water a place to go – usually in the form of an underlying stone bed. When storm and rain water fall on a traditional asphalt surface, it pools and runs off – carrying dirt, debris, grease, oil and other contaminants with it and delivering those into the surrounding grass, landscaping, and/or storm water or streams.
Porous asphalt, on the other hand, allows water to filter through the pavement surface and infiltrate into the soils beneath the pavement, thus delivering a green paving contractor with an innovative tool ideal for a range of paved surface needs: driveways, parking lots, playgrounds, and more. These days, the porous asphalt has improved to deliver a cost-effective and attractive paving material that is long-lasting.
Recycled asphalt
Pavement materials mixed with used old roofing shingles, worn-out tires, and even reclaimed asphalt pavements which can be mixed into new pours, reduce the carbon footprint of new pavements and save landfill space at the same time. With reclaimed asphalt pavements, the old binder used to build the previous pavement can be reactivated, which further reduces the need for new asphalt materials.
For all your green paving needs and any questions you may have about asphalt paving, please contact us online or call HMA Contracting Corp. at 518.664.1014 or toll free at 855.664.1014.