Asphalt Paving Contractor in Nashville, TN

Why Do Nashville Driveways Crack and Settle?

Nashville sits in the Nashville Basin, where limestone bedrock lies close to the surface. The NRCS describes limestone outcrops almost everywhere in the basin, with sinkholes common. Soil depth runs from a few inches to several feet near the river. Davidson County's most common soil, the Mimosa series, carries a silty clay subsoil over phosphatic limestone. It drains slowly, and the Maury soils nearby do the same. Clay holds water, and water that gets through a crack sits on that clay. When it freezes in January and thaws in February, the base under a driveway moves.

The housing stock does the rest. About half of the city's homes are single-family detached houses, and the median one was built in 1985. If the driveway is the original, it has seen every one of those winters. Edges crumble where the base was thin, and alligator cracks spread where water sat. Asphalt repair handles the potholes and the failed patches. Crack sealing closes the open gaps before the next rain gets in.

Parking Lot Paving Along Nashville's Pikes

Nashville's commerce runs along its pikes. Gallatin Pike carries East Nashville's storefronts, Murfreesboro Pike and Bell Road serve Antioch, and Lebanon Pike runs through Donelson. Briley Parkway loops around the city past Donelson, Music Valley and the airport. Those corridors are lined with strip centers, churches, shops and offices. Every one of those lots takes delivery trucks and daily traffic on the same asphalt. Parking lot paving covers new lots and full replacements. When a whole lot has to come up first, a full-size milling machine is brought in.

Striping comes after the paving or after a sealcoat. Parking lot striping lays out the spaces, the arrows, the fire lanes and the accessible spaces. The ADA Standards for Accessible Design set how many accessible spaces a lot needs and how they are marked. The striping page explains how the standard counts them. Whether the lot sits in Bellevue or Antioch, drivers need lines they can read at night.

Permits, Drainage and the Creeks in Davidson County

Metro Codes and Building Safety issues building permits in Nashville. Its residential permit list names additions, decks, roofing and swimming pools. It does not name driveways or paving. Work in the public right-of-way is different. A new curb cut or a cut into the street is NDOT's call. That is the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure. Its right-of-way permits are applied for through ePermits, and the restoration has to be finished before the permit runs out. The permit office answers the question for your lot, and we point you there.

Bigger site work has its own rule. Metro Water Services' Stormwater Division issues grading permits for larger land disturbance. The line is more than 100 cubic yards moved or more than 10,000 square feet opened. A home driveway is far smaller than that. A new commercial lot can cross that line, so the stormwater review is part of the plan from the start.

Water is the other half of the story. Nashville's creeks run through its neighborhoods. Mill Creek passes Antioch and Woodbine, Whites Creek runs through Bordeaux, and Richland Creek and Browns Creek sit closer in. In May 2010 the National Weather Service measured more than 13 inches of rain in two days. The Cumberland River crested above 52 feet, a dozen feet over flood stage. A driveway cannot stop a flood. It can be pitched so everyday rain runs off the surface instead of into the base. Standing water is what wears out asphalt in Nashville's clay, so the pitch is set before the first load arrives.

Sealcoating Season in Nashville

The weather sets the calendar. At the airport station the last spring freeze lands in early April on average. The first fall freeze lands in early November. Sealer makers call for 50 degrees and rising and a dry day to cure. So the sealcoating season runs through the warm months between those dates. Sealcoating protects the surface from sun and water once a new driveway has cured. The sealcoating page covers how long a new surface waits and how often to reseal.

Nashville keeps building. About a third of the city's homes went up in 2000 or later. New subdivisions get new driveways, and those need a first sealcoat after the asphalt cures. The older streets get repair, crack sealing and a fresh coat. For a long lane out toward Joelton or Bells Bend, chip seal is another option. We quote it the same way, after we look.