Learn about milling—what it is, and when it’s the best option for your asphalt pavement.
Tucker Paving has been in the asphalt paving industry for 30 years, and one of the things we love about asphalt is its versatility! If your asphalt driveway, parking lot, or walkway has seen better days, you generally have a few options to restore it, depending on the severity of any damage. Milling and repaving are both options that could return your asphalt to good as new.
Milling Defined
Asphalt milling is the process of removing the top layer of asphalt pavement, usually so that a new layer can go in its place. The process creates a level surface in the asphalt pavement that works as a base for the new layer.
Specialized machinery, called cold planers or just simply milling machines, is used to break up and remove the top layer; these broken bits of asphalt are called millings. The millings generally travel along a conveyor belt to be collected in a dump truck.
Millings can be recycled, called reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). RAP is most often used as the aggregate in new asphalt pavement.
Milling Vs. Repaving
Milling is utilized for a number of reasons, such as to create a uniform top layer of asphalt, or to shorten an asphalt feature and bring it within the design specs. However, milling is most often done when an asphalt pavement is damaged and patching and sealing just aren’t cutting it anymore. Then, the entire top layer of the asphalt pavement is ground up by milling, removed, and replaced.
Often, the millings that were removed are reused in the mixture of the new layer of asphalt. This creates a surface with all the uniformity and curb appeal of a new asphalt pavement, but without the higher price tag of a completely new asphalt pavement.
Milling isn’t always an option, however. Sometimes, asphalt pavement is just too degraded, holes and cracks are too deep, or there is a serious problem with drainage or the foundation that must be fixed. In those instances, milling is not an option because the pavement is just too far gone. In those instances, an experienced asphalt paver will call for a complete repaving to replace the pavement.
The best entity for determining whether your asphalt pavement requires milling or repaving is an experienced asphalt paving company!
We have been serving Central Florida since 1994 in the asphalt and concrete paving industry, and we take every opportunity to lower our environmental impact! We have completed projects for residential, commercial, and municipal clients. Contact us by calling (863) 299-2262, or use our contact form online. How can we help you with your next concrete or asphalt paving project?