By Steven Brahney | May 19, 2015

The averagecost to pave parking lot cost to pave an asphalt parking lot in South Jersey varies from market to market and is contingent on several factors listed below. The average cost in the South Jersey Market for a 50,000 sq ft parking lot ranges in price from $1.25 - $1.50 per square foot for a 1 ½” – 2” compacted overlay.

 

 

 

Factors That Affect Price Of Paving a Parking Lot

  •  MILLING: If the parking lot severely cracked, has drainage issues or your curb reveal (Space from the current grade of asphalt to the top of the curb / sidewalk)  is less than 6” your parking lot would benefit from asphalt milling where 1” – 3” of existing asphalt is grinded off the surface with a milling machine prior to paving.  The cost of milling ranges from $0.25 - $0.60 per square foot.

  • ALLIGATOR CRACKING: If the asphalt parking lot your are considering paving has extensive alligator cracking or underground water issues, it is advisable to install a geotextile paving fabric (Mirafi, PetroMat, Glass Grid or equivalent) prior to installing the asphalt overlay.  The paving fabric will prevent the alligator cracks from coming back up through the surface. The cost of paving fabric typically ranges from $0.14-$0.22 per square foot.
  • LEVELING COURSE OR DRAINAGE CORRECTION: If the asphalt parking lot currently has extensive puddling or large areas of standing water from improper grade, you will want to correct these prior to paving.  An asphalt leveling course can be installed prior to paving to shim any low spots or puddles. Using a laser grade system, elevations can be shot and the milling crew can be directed where to “profile mill” to manipulate the grade to promote positive drainage.  These costs vary extensively and are typically quotes per project after a thorough site evaluation by an experienced asphalt paving professional.
  • AVAILABILITY OF RAW MATERIALS & FUEL COST VOLATILITY: The cost of asphalt changes on a monthly basis and is reported on each states Department Of Transportation website.  As the cost of liquid asphalt cement rises and lowers so does the cost of hot mix asphalt (HMA) p 
    er ton.  The other factor is availability of raw materials.  For instance, in some markets there are 3-4 asphalt plants in a 5 mile radius as others there may only be one asphalt plant in a 25 mile radius. The cost of disposal of millings also factors in as some plants are at capacity to stockpile recycled asphalt and cannot accept anymore until their stock pile reduces below state height requirements. If the millings have to be trucked to another location, this will increase the cost of the milling portion of the project as in a perfect world situation the trucks would load millings from the jobsite, dump them at the asphalt plant, load fresh plant hot mix and head back to the jobsite.
  • TYPE OF PAVING COMPANY: The asphalt paving industry is inundated with fly-by-night outfits looking to make a quick buck and are able to do so by providing inferior materials and workmanship. Their objective is to be the low cost provider from the beginning with an end game of either trying to use inflated change orders or finding ways to cut corners to increase their profits. The most popular method is to install less asphalt then proposed.  It is not uncommon to see these fly-by-night outfits quote to install 2” of asphalt at a very cheap price only to find out a year later when the asphalt begins to crack that 1” or less was actually installed.  These outfits are very common to identify as they typically use “high pressure sales tactics”, require large upfront deposits prior to starting the work or demand checks be made payable to their personal name to allow them to cash the check at your bank.  The reason they do this is they lack the proper capital and credit to obtain the needed raw materials.  We always recommend never giving a deposit to a paving contractor until the day they begin work and always making the check payable to a business name. This is your insurance policy in the event work suddenly comes to a stop or the contractor tries to up sell you with a bait & switch, even if they have possession of the deposit check you can simply call your bank and stop payment.

Other factors which can effect the price of your asphalt paving job is accessibility of the job to get large equipment in / out (If you are in a Major Metropolitan City, expect to see a increase of 50% or more), ease of paving (Is the parking lot square or different angles with a lot of landscape islands), schedule (Can the parking lot be paved during the week from 7AM – 4 PM or does the work have to be completed at night or over the weekend).

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