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When Asphalt and Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth

You may not be aware of it but a part of the highways and parking lots that you drive your car into may have been around for millions of years! Those roadways and pavements' considerable history can be attributed to one if its key component - asphalt. Yes, the asphalt that is used to pave the roads that you drive through has indeed been around since the prehistoric times to merit a discussion.

Asphalt has been dated back as early as the prehistoric period. Evidence of this claim can be attributed prehistoric animal preserves found by archaeologists at La Brea Tar Pit, Los Angeles California that have been observed to have asphalt deposits.

There should be no surprise to it already because by definition, asphalt is a black, viscous, cement-like bitumen (an organic byproduct of organic matter) that occurs naturally in crude petroleum. Since fossil deposits produce petroleum, it is natural to find asphalt that can date back to millions of years ago.

Even if it is a byproduct, technology has found different ways and means to utilize asphalt. However, industries at present do not use natural deposits of asphalts found directly from its source. The asphalt that is used these days has to be separated and isolated from crude oil such as naphtha, gasoline and diesel.

It was in the ancient times when natural asphalt was used extensively by civilizations. Ancient Babylonians used natural asphalt as a building material. It can even be noted in the Old Testament books of Genesis and Exodus. If you browse through these books of the Bible, you can read that asphalt has been referred to several times as a "caulking material".

From recent archaeological excavations, it has been found that asphalt was a significant material for ancient civilizations.

Dating back as far as 3200-540 BC, asphalt has been used by ancient civilizations near the Indus Valley such as the Mesopotamians as cement for masonry, a material for street construction and as a waterproofing layer for temple baths and water tanks to name a few.

Even Egyptian mummies had their fair share of asphalt. Mummies dating back as far as 300 BC had asphalt as one of its important materials for its mummification.

It was not until 1802 when asphalt was first used to pave roads. Back then, asphalt that was used was not yet refined and processed. Rock asphalt was first used in France for floors, bridges and sidewalk surfacing. Philadelphia then followed in 1838 when rock asphalt was also used to pave sidewalk constructions in the said state.

Before the use of processed asphalt, smooth and level roads were unheard of. Rocks, boulders and chunks of asphalt were used but not evened out to provide smooth and flat roads. Processed asphalt was not used up until 1870 when Newark, New Jersey claimed the title of the first state to have the first processed asphalt-laid pavement

Since then, the demand for processed asphalt has gradually increased. However, as the industrial age pushed forward, the demand for asphalt increased dramatically. From the 3 million-ton demand in 1926, the demand for asphalt increased up to 11 million tons in 1950, following the World War II.

The advantages of asphalt emulsion (a mixture of asphalt, water and an emulsifying agent that enables the asphalt to mix well with water) also helped in the boom of asphalt production.

During the 1970s when an energy conservation measure was issued by the Federal Energy Administration, asphalt emulsion became a commendable candidate for road construction. Since it did not require petroleum solvent to make it liquid and it can be used even without additional heat, the use of asphalt emulsion contributed much to the energy conservation drive of the government.

In retrospect, the asphalt on our present day roads and highways may not be millions of years old. However, the next time we walked through a sidewalk or drove to a parking lot; let us not disregard the history and the advantages that this age-old material has given us.

(ArticlesBase SC #7197)

Asphalt Vs. Concrete | What is The Best Choice for Your parking Lots Pavement?

Whenever construction related topics are discussed, the use of asphalt VS concrete always creates a bit of controversy. This is especially true when the discussion focuses on paving. Even the word paving these days is used to describe mostly asphalt. But the truth is pavement is any material used to created roads or driveways. The most common modern paving methods however are asphalt and concrete.

Both asphalt and concrete have a long history in the building industry because of the variety of ways the materials can be used. However, in regard to paving parking lots and driveways the biggest argument has mainly been about initial cost.

Now comes the inevitable question, "Which is the better material for parking lot and driveway surfaces?" The answer may surprise nearly everyone. And if you are a property or business owner, the results documented by industry experts as well as scientific studies are quite revealing.

According to Wikipedia, Discovery.com and Industry Sources, here are the latest findings. We'll start with Concrete Paving.

The Complete details about Concrete Paving:

•- Concrete is more prone to cracking and buckling because it's rigid and dense design. Tree Roots, Ground Movements, Freeze Thaw Cycles and soil movement are huge contributors to concretes deterioration.
•- According to the Ohio Highway Commission, concrete costs of $70 to $100 per cubic yard were more than double the costs of asphalt paving. All Ohio highway paving is now done with asphalt.
•- Concrete paving of parking lot and driveway surfaces requires more time and initial cost than asphalt paving. This hold especially true the larger a project gets.
•- Repairs to concrete paving surfaces are more costly to repair than asphalt. They also don't blend as well as paving does. Especially after asphalt gets freshly seal coated.
•+ Concrete paving last far longer than asphalt paving surfaces.
•+ Concrete paving maintenance cost over time, is far less expensive than asphalt paving.
•+ Concrete paving requires far less on-going maintenance to keep its strength.

The complete details about Asphalt Paving:

•- Asphalt requires continual maintenance including seal coating, striping, crack filling, and many other forgotten costs when deciding what type of pavement to install.
•+ Asphalt Paving offers more flexibility giving a light advantage over concrete in terms of handling stress and cracking.
•- + Asphalt is the easiest to use and most economical pothole repair product available. It can be applied as a cold patch, hot patch, and become a permanent solution for repairing potholes in a shorter amount of time than concrete and other more costly hybrid mixtures. Keep in mind that potholes are far less likely in concrete.
•+ In addition to pothole repair, asphalt is used to repair parking lots, driveways, and roadways on a larger scale. The preparation for paving with asphalt is relatively easy, depending on the condition of the surface being covered. Asphalt paving can be done directly over the present pavement in many cases.
•+ Asphalt is very strong, durable and weather resistant in addition to being resistant to damaging effects from chemicals
•- Only when the maintenance schedules are kept up.
•+ Asphalt sets faster than concrete giving it a strong advantage in both cost and convenience for parking lot and driveway paving.

In summary,

Asphalt : An environmentally friendly and recyclable paving product that provides many benefits for driveway, road, and parking lot paving applications. With its upfront cost savings, it is by far the more popular choice for parking lot and driveway paving construction. However, those upfront savings are quickly lost with in the first 5 years of installation through ongoing and costly parking lot construction projects.

Concrete: Also highly green in its recyclable qualities. Concrete paving is a long lasting, low maintenance cost product which looks great over time. Although typically more difficult and slightly costlier to repair, when that time comes. Over time the cost to maintain a concrete pavement surface is much lower. Over the life span of 20–30 years there will be even a larger saving on concrete constructed projects VS its asphalt counterpart.

So now its time for you to decide what pavement medium fits your needs!

(ArticlesBase SC #2400748)

Asphalt in Road Construction

Though a vast majority of today’s roads are constructed using asphalt, its use has been traced back hundreds and even thousands of years. This naturally occurring substance is sought after for a number of applications due to its adhesive and waterproofing properties. Though the substance is so common today that it is not usually given a thought, asphalt is all around us in the form of roads, airport runways, roofs, tennis courts, parking lots, batteries, adhesives and more. Over ninety percent of the roads in the United States are constructed using this valuable, binding substance, but how did this come to be?

Asphalt is a dark brown or black substance composed primarily of bitumen. Bitumen is a broad term referring to a natural or manufactured viscous substance comprised of a mixture of hydrocarbons. Asphalt, also referred to as Hot Mix Asphalt, blacktop, asphalt concrete, tarmac, bituminous concrete or macadam, can be naturally occurring but today is more commonly produced as a byproduct of the refining process in the petroleum industry. Seepage at the surface of the earth in certain areas gave people throughout history access to bitumen many years before contemporary methods made extracting crude oil from within the earth possible. Around the year 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh discovered a naturally occurring lake of asphalt on the Island of Trinidad, and quickly found use for the substance in caulking his ship.

Years after Raleigh’s discovery, President Ulysses S. Grant had Pennsylvania Avenue paved using asphalt from the bitumen lake in Trinidad. For several years, Lake Trinidad as well as Venezuela’s Bermudez Lake produced almost all of the asphalt imported and used in the United States. By the early 1900s, asphalt production as a byproduct of petroleum refining had become the primary source of the substance. Oil companies developed the ability to produce asphalt superior to that imported from the naturally occurring lakes. Today, crude oil is refined through the process of fractional distillation, which yields bitumen separated from other petroleum components such as gasoline, kerosene, petroleum gas and other products.

In the United States, an increasing need for quality roadways aligned with the proliferation of the thousands of automobiles produced after World War I. Additionally, World War II brought about a need to improve upon runway technology as planes became heavier and more abundant. Continually improving road building technology has led to the over two million miles of bituminous roadways that are central to the lifestyles of Americans today.

(ArticlesBase SC #199035)