Welcome back to another entry here at the Sunrise Asphalt blog, where we give you all the info and know-how you need to take care of your pavement purposes. This time on the blog we’re going a different direction from usual and help you understand how to remove asphalt – and why you might want to!
How to Remove Asphalt
The whole point of asphalt is to be a big sturdy surface to stand the test of time and wear and tear of weather, and it’s installed with some heavy-duty equipment, so you’ll do yourself a huge favor and get your best results by bringing in some tools of your own!
Tools to Use:
- Jackhammer
- Pickax
- Shovel
- Saw
The first thing you’ll need to do to begin the asphalt removal process is to begin breaking up the asphalt into smaller pieces. To do this, take your jackhammer, or a pickax, or even a shovel to being to break the larger surface into smaller pieces. You can even use a saw to cut asphalt!
Start by finding places where your asphalt is already damaged, where there are already cracks or potholes. This portion of the asphalt is weaker and will be easier for you to break apart using hand tools. If you’re working on asphalt near your home, say a driveway for instance, be sure to use hand tools and to work carefully near your home. You want to make sure you don’t damage any structures or lines running under the home.
Pile up the broken, torn up asphalt and move on to the next step. But before we talk about disposal, what about using some heavy duty machinery?
Using an Excavator
If you feel up to it, or have the skills and experience to do so, you can use an excavator like a Caterpillar to do the heavy lifting for you. Like hand tools you’ll want to start in places where the asphalt is already damaged so you can use the machine to pull up large chunks of asphalt. These larger chunks can then be broken apart by hand tools afterwards.
If you do go this route, you’ll want to still use hand tools to work closer any structures as using an excavator too close to your home can end up with accidental damages so fast it’ll make your head spin! Instead, be patient, pull out the pick ax and get to work.
If you’re able, use the excavator bucket to move the asphalt into piles in shaded areas, to make the rest of the process a bit cooler.
Asphalt Disposal
With the asphalt all broken apart and piled up it’s time to figure out just what to do with it. While it may be tempting to just haul off and dump it somewhere, the best thing to do is find an asphalt recycling center! So much of the asphalt used in the world is recycled, it’s one of the great benefits of the materials. Find a recycling center near you and do your part to put that material back into circulation.
Why You Might Want To
There are a few reasons removing asphalt might be on the table for you. Perhaps you bought up a new place and inherited rundown, beat-up old stretches. Maybe you want to move an asphalt driveway from the front of your home to alongside it. Whatever the reason, your current asphalt situation does not have to remain stagnant. Just like you can change your landscaping to suit your tastes, you can rework your existing asphalt as desired – or install new stretches as your heart decides.
Whatever your asphalt needs, you don’t have to go it alone! Reach out to your local asphalt paving professionals (like us here at Sunrise!) to see what we can to do help! Your asphalt might not even need full replacement but simple crack filling and a fresh overlay, but there’s only one way to find out!
