Sustainable Asphalt Paving for A Cleaner Environment

Is asphalt a green commercial paving option?

You might not think so but it is! Every year, the asphalt industry reclaims nearly 65,000,000 tons of the very product it uses. Additionally, our industry reused or recycled 99% of our materials. Here’s how B & S Contracting supports the environment with every project we do.

Highway Construction: Benefits of Reclaimed Asphalt Paving

For green commercial paving, we use RAP, or Reclaimed Asphalt Paving, in highway construction paving projects. RAP is removed and/or reprocessed pavement materials that contain high quality, well-graded aggregate coated by asphalt cement.

RAP is generated from resurfacing and reconstruction projects, or from projects that need asphalt removal to obtain access to buried utilities.

What Makes Porous Asphalt A Sustainable Paving Option

Porous asphalt pavement is an excellent choice for properties with stormwater drainage challenges! That’s because it can eliminate the need for a retention pond. Environmentally friendly and a money saver, porous pavement is a viable green commercial paving solution with considerable long-term cost efficiency.

  • Allows water to drain through its surface into the stone bed beneath it
  • Water then works its way into the soil the way nature intended
  • Contaminants travel into the sub-base, subjected to the natural processes that clean the water
  • There are no proprietary ingredients! Asphalt plants can easily prepare the mix
  • No additional paving equipment or specific paving skills needed

To keep the water level rising into the asphalt, the stone bed must be designed so that the water level never rises to meet the asphalt

That’s why you need a qualified and experienced paving contractor to properly install it! As a Virginia Asphalt Association and VDOT award winner, B & S Contracting gets the job done right the first time.

What Makes Warm Mix Asphalt Sustainable

Thanks to advances in technology, Warm Mix Asphalt, or WMA, is produced at lower temperatures, saving energy and reducing the production of greenhouse gases.

Used in about 30% all paving projects such as roads, interstates, highways, driveways, cart paths, and walking paths, it can be laid either day or night. With a manufacturing temperature of between 200-250 Fahrenheit, WMA can be used in cooler months, beyond the normal paving and construction months.

  • Uses fewer fossil fuels and resources during manufacturing
  • Includes additives and binders for easier low temperature pouring, spreading.
  • Less smoke, fumes, dust. Can be safely used in tunnels with low air quality
  • Better for workers and the environment!

These are just some of the ways that B & S Contracting supports our environment. To learn more about us and to get a quote, call us today! 540-886-8886.