Asphalt removal and replacement

Alligator cracking, areas that flex under a loaded vehicle and potholes that keep coming back all mean the base underneath has failed. An overlay on top won't fix that. The same cracks come back through the new asphalt, often within a few seasons.

The right choice depends on what is causing the damage, not on the age of the pavement. Most properties end up with a mix: replacement where the pavement has failed, and lighter treatment everywhere else.

• Crack sealing and seal coat, for sound pavement that is faded or lightly cracked
• Patching, for a few small failures in otherwise sound pavement
• Resurfacing, for a worn surface across a wide area over a base that still carries load
• Removal and replacement, for alligator cracking, flexing and returning potholes

Pavement rarely fails evenly, so full-depth replacement rarely needs to cover the whole property. Instead of replacing the entire paved area, we walk the site and mark out only the sections where the base has failed. Keeping the repairs to those localized areas can save a considerable amount compared with repaving the whole lot.

Where the damage comes from heavy loads sitting in one spot, like trash enclosure aprons and truck loading areas, replacing the asphalt with concrete can keep it from failing again.

We sawcut around the failed area, then break out the old asphalt or mill it, depending on the width and size of the patches. Removed asphalt is then hauled to a recycler and reused as base rock or as RAP (recycled asphalt pavement) in new asphalt.

With the pavement out, we can see what is going on underneath. If the subgrade is soft, we tell you right away and price the fix before going further. At Longwood Elementary in Hayward, that meant cement and lime treatment before any paving, still inside the three-week schedule.

• Sawcut and remove the failed section to a clean, straight edge
• Check the base and subgrade, and correct anything that won't carry the load
• Place and compact new aggregate base
• Coat all adjoining surfaces with tack coat
• Pave in lifts, compacting while the asphalt is hot
• Match the new pavement flush to the pavement around it

On our published removal and replacement projects, completed in 2021 and 2022, the contract came to about $4.50 to $6.50 per square foot. At Bay Medical Co. in Brisbane, 27,790 SF replaced at 4 in and 6 in depths, with striping, came to $181,760, about $6.54/SF. At Future CDJR in Concord, more than 66,000 SF replaced over unstable subgrade, plus 57,000 SF of seal coat, came to $296,200, about $4.49/SF.

These are whole-contract values divided by the replaced area, so they include everything else in the job. Thicker sections and smaller areas cost more per square foot. Asphalt and fuel costs have also gone up since these jobs were priced, so a bid today will usually come in higher. Treat the range as a guide, not a quote.

Most of the difference in price from one site to the next comes from what is under the surface and how easy the site is to work on.

• Area, and the depth of the new base and asphalt
• Soft subgrade found once the old pavement is out
• Haul-off and recycling of the removed material
• Access and phasing on a property that stays open
• Drainage, concrete and striping work at the same time
• Asphalt and fuel prices at the time of the work

Time depends on area, depth, access and phasing. At Bay Medical Co. in Brisbane, 27,790 SF was removed and replaced in three days.

On occupied sites we work one area at a time and reopen each section once the new asphalt has cooled. Tenants or residents get notice of which areas close, when, and where to park in the meantime.

Two bids for the same lot can describe very different work. A proposal you can compare should state:

• The areas to be replaced, marked on a plan or on site
• Removal depth, new base depth and asphalt thickness
• How soft subgrade will be handled and priced if it is found
• Haul-off, drainage corrections and restriping
• What is excluded