7 November 2022
 Categories: , Blog

Do you live in an area that commonly gets snow during the winter months? If so, you should know that your choice of paving materials can actually have an impact on how easy or how difficult the task of snow removal can be. In most cases, you will find that asphalt paving is your best option. This is because asphalt works in three distinct ways to help make snow removal easier. You can learn more about each of these three ways below. 

#1: Asphalt Paving Helps To Promote The Melting Of Snow And Ice

Asphalt actually has the power to help promote the melting of snow and ice. This is because the dark color of asphalt helps to attract the heat of the sun. Asphalt not only attracts this heat but actually retains it as well. This means that your asphalt driveway can be considerably warmer than other surfaces outside. This helps to promote the melting of snow and ice even if the ambient temperature outside is still below freezing. 

#2: Melting Salts Are Safe To Use On Surfaces Paved With Asphalt

Melting salts are a very effective way of quickly clearing snow and ice and ensuring that your paved surface is safe to walk on. Unfortunately, these melting salts can cause damage to some paving materials. For example, concrete surfaces will often suffer surface flaking as a result of being exposed to melting salts. Asphalt surfaces will not be damaged by the use of these salts. That is one of the reasons that many commercial parking lots and roads are paved using asphalt rather than other paving materials. 

#3: Asphalt Provides An Ideal Surface For Plowing

Depending on how much snow your area typically gets, you may find that shoveling this snow manually is just not a realistic option. Thankfully, snow plows and snow blowers can make removing large amounts of snow much easier. The problem is that not all paving materials allow for the effective use of this equipment. For instance, driveways paved with cobblestone will often be difficult to plow because of the textured surface that this paving material provides. If you plan on using a snow plow or snow blower to assist in your snow removal efforts, you should know that asphalt provides the durable, flat surface that is needed to safely and effectively use this equipment without the need to worry about potentially damaging your driveway or other paved surfaces. 

Contact a local asphalt paving service to learn more.