Overlays

Asphalt overlays are one of the most widely used (and often misused) methods of repairing aged and fatigued asphalt.

An asphalt overlay consists of applying a new layer of fresh hot mix asphalt directly on top of older existing asphalt surfaces. Typically an inch and half of fresh surface asphalt is placed over existing asphalt.

Prior to applying the overlay, all longitudinal and traverse cracks should be properly filled, areas of moderate to severe fatigue should be patched, and areas of minor to moderate fatigue should be treated with a Bituminous Surface Treatment (BST, chip seal, or perma-flex) application or placement of geofabric (petro-mat) in order to reduce the occurrence of crack reflection.

These treatments increase the life of the overlay; however, they do slightly add to the front-end cost of the overlay. All too often these treatments are not included in proposals or are minimized to ensure a lower proposal price, which ultimately results in a lower quality overlay mat that tends to fail prematurely. The failure to protect against crack reflection further results in much higher back-end repair costs.

Our proposals will always include the options for these types of pre-overlay treatments as well as recommendations based on our understanding of your specific management objectives. Our sales staff can meet you on site and walk the property with you to ensure that all these options are fully understood.