Concrete: The smarter alternative to asphalt…
While concrete pavements are best known as the surface for interstate highways, concrete is a durable, economical, and sustainable solution for state highways, rural roadways, residential and city streets, intersections, airstrips, intermodal facilities, military bases, parking lots, and more.
In Minnesota, asphalt roads need to be resurfaced approximately every 8 years, compared to concrete roads which last an average of 25 years before requiring any maintenance.
Utilizing both concrete and asphalt for maintenance applications creates increased competition and lower costs to taxpayers. When given a fair design comparison, concrete is typically the most economical choice and lasts far longer than asphalt.
Additionally, concrete roads incur fewer lifecycle costs than asphalt roads as they require less maintenance and fewer resurfacings – all resulting in a savings for the taxpayer and less time spent in traffic due to construction delays.
Concrete overlays are a durable alternative to using asphalt to resurface an existing road.
Concrete overlay techniques have been shown to add 15 to 30 years of service life to a roadway compared to 5 to 7 years for asphalt resurfacing. Initial costs are about the same for concrete overlays and asphalt resurfacing when equally designed.
Concrete overlays are placed on existing concrete, asphalt or composite pavement roads – requiring far less construction time.
Concrete: An answer to the Twin Cities’ congestion problems…
Congestion due to roadway maintenance and construction is inevitable in large metropolitan areas such as Minneapolis/St. Paul. Paving with concrete can significantly decrease the amount of time spent on these projects due to the material’s longer life cycle and durability.
In the Minneapolis/St. Paul area alone, traffic congestion wastes more than 47 million gallons of fuel each year.
Annual CO2 emissions attributed to congestion delays totaled more than .4 million metric tons in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
Wasted fuel, lost time, and higher transportation costs from traffic delays add up to more than $1.3 billion per year in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
The answer is simple: paving with concrete means less time spent in traffic, fewer emissions over the life cycle of the road, less wasted fuel for motorists, and a sustainable, money-saving alternative to asphalt.