Whether you own a commercial property or a home, maintaining your pavement is of the utmost importance. It’s unfortunately not something that many people think about. However, even small damages can grow into larger ones and can become severe safety hazards. Pavement maintenance covers a lot of different things, from fixing potholes, cracks and washouts to restriping. Small cracks and potholes can eventually grow larger, which can cause injuries if someone were to trip and fall over them. They can also cause damage to vehicles. It’s important to remember that pavement maintenance isn’t just about fixing these issues, it’s about preventing them as well. Restriping is also important– if you let the stripes in your parking lot fade, it can make it difficult for drivers to see where they are supposed to park.
The following are some of the different types of pavement maintenance you may need to do, as defined by the Federal Highway Administration:
Pavement preservation – This involves putting together a long term strategy in order to enhance the performance of your pavement by implementing practices that will extend its life, improve its safety and meet the expectations of road users.
Pavement rehabilitation – This involves making structural enhancements that will prolong your existing pavement or improve its load carrying capacity.
Pavement reconstruction – This process involves replacing your entire existing pavement with an increased pavement structure.
Preventative maintenance – This involves creating a strategy for treating an existing roadway system that will preserve the system, slow down its future deterioration and either maintain or improve the function of the system without necessarily increasing its structural capacity by a lot.
Corrective maintenance – This involves fixing any deficiencies to the pavement that has a negative impact on its safety or of its future integrity.
Routine maintenance – This process involves work that is performed routinely in order to preserve and maintain the pavement’s condition.
As you can see, there are two main types of pavement maintenance – prevention and repair. Ideally, you’ll want to do regular preventative maintenance so that repairs aren’t needed as often. However, neither types of pavement maintenance should be ignored, as both will be needed to keep your pavement functional and safe. Remember, pavement maintenance also includes tasks such as line striping. For information on line striping in North Virginia, be sure to contact us at Master Markings today.
