We just had bitumen laid in our carpark at work and have been advised not to drive on it for 2 weeks to let it cure , however when they lay it on a road you can drive on it straight away ?
In: Chemistry
Got mix asphalt is the material that’s most commonly used in road construction. It’s soft and malleable at high temperatures where it’s applied and compacted, when it cools down , it’s stiff and rigid and you can drive on it (this doesn’t take long)
Parking lot dealers are usually coal tar or bitumen emulsion products. They are applied cold and take a lot longer to dry out. They are like paint and are sticky for a long time, until the water evaporates.
The 2 week curing time you have makes me think you have a coal tar sealer on your parking lot, this takes a long time to cure out and will scuff if traffic is put on it too early
Was the product hot when applied? Asphalt paving is usually applied hot and then rolled to compact it. As soon as it is cool to the touch it is OK to drive on it with light traffic. However, there is a similar product often called cold patch, normally used to fix potholes. This is not heated and typically not compacted as firmly and as a result can be displaced by the weight of traffic or parked cars.
Then there is the possibility that the existing asphalt was simply sealed with a petroleum based sealant which takes time to cure and is virtually never used on public infrastructure.
Just to add to the comments about the various paving products. Even with hot mix asphalt there would be a difference between letting road traffic onto it vs parking lot traffic. Turning your wheels without moving/moving slowly tears up the asphalt if it is not setup vs just rolling over it not making an impact. But this would only be the difference in hours and not weeks.
Is it cold where you are? Does temperature affect how fast it cures?
In addition to what others mentioned about curing time, parking lots also have the issue of needing to lay out and paint the parking spot lines while it’s all still empty.
First question:
What is bitumen?
Second question:
What is bitumen?
Because Roads have 4,000 pound vehicles moving down them, covering hundreds of yards in mere seconds.
Your car park has a few hundred 4,000 pound vehicles sitting in one place for 9 or 10 hours at a time. These will almost immediately start to sink into uncured pavement.
Is there a roof? No sun to help harden the material maybe
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