Parking lot paving typically consists of ‘heavy Duty’ and ‘Light Duty’ areas.

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An example of Heavy Duty areas will typically consist of 9-12″ aggregate stone base under 4″ of asphalt (2 lifts).

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Light Duty asphalt will typically consist of 6-8″ of aggregate stone base and 3″ of asphalt.

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Installing asphalt pavement for a parking lot typically consists of stretches of lanes (Heavy Duty Areas) with adjacent rows of parking spaces (Light Duty Areas). In terms of asphalt-in-place per rate of time, parking lot paving is typically conducive to higher productivity rates than road widening or driveway paving but less productive than mainline paving. The primary obstacle a Parking lot paving crew comes in contact with is the stopping and starting that is a result of; broken up heavy duty and light duty areas, higher concrete curb and island presence, and radius areas.  These conditions with parking lot paving all contribute to increased handwork and reduced productivity.

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Having accurate grades prior to pavement is critical with parking lots as there are often drainage systems designed to received sheet drained storm water into catch basins residing in pre-engineered low elevation areas. Having low spots or ‘bird-baths’ should be avoided. Proper sloping and drainage of the asphalt is both more critical and challenging with parking lots as the areas are larger as opposed to roads which are thinner strips of material with a simple crown design.

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Because of the wider dimensions of asphalt, parking lots have more joints and thus higher susceptibility to damage over time if the joints are not constructed correctly.