The leading enemy of pavements—both asphalt and concrete—is poor drainage. Tucker Paving has been in the paving industry for over 30 years, and our experience is that poor drainage will eventually destroy even the best-laid pavement. Water will create cracks, potholes, erosion, and worse. There are many different considerations for drainage that must be factored into any paving job.
Top Considerations for Drainage
Drainage consideration must go beyond where to put the sewer grates. An experienced paving company will consider how the water will travel across different soils and different surfaces. Considerations for the drainage for a pavement include:
- Surface Drainage: The surface of the pavement must be designed to slope down to channels, gutters, and basins to get the water off and away from the pavement as quickly as possible.
- Drainage in the Subsurface: Drains should be located at the pavement’s lowest points to catch stormwater runoff and to keep water from pooling on or near the pavement.
- Ditches and Edge Drains: Some pavements require drainage features like ditches, gutters, or edge drains—such as highway pavements or parking lots—to channel water to keep it from eroding the ground around the pavement and to reduce flooding. In some instances, bioswales, or vegetated swales, can be used to naturally filter storm runoff and convey the water away from pavement.
- Pavement Permeability: In some situations, the material of the pavement itself is a consideration, as it needs to be permeable to allow water to pass through it. Permeable pavement is a great option for tight places that have unique drainage situations, such as urban sidewalks.
Tucker Paving has over three decades of serving Central Florida, offering underground utilities installation and maintenance, construction layout and as-builts, site clearing and demolition, asphalt and concrete installation and maintenance, hauling aggregate, and more! Contact us by calling (863) 299-2262, or use our contact form online.