Asphalt Driveway Paving in Bossier City, LA

Asphalt driveway paving is mostly groundwork. The surface is only 2 to 3 inches of asphalt on a typical home; under it is 6 to 8 inches of compacted gravel, and under that is whatever soil the house was built on. Around Bossier City, that is often clay that holds water. When a driveway breaks into alligator cracks, ruts where the tires run or sinks near the garage, the asphalt usually did not fail on its own. The ground under it got wet and soft.

Signs it is time to replace

• Cracks joined into a web or alligator-skin pattern
• Potholes that come back after patching
• Low spots that hold water a day after rain
• Edges crumbling into the grass or the ditch
• More patch than original surface

Isolated cracks can be sealed and a small failed area can be cut out and patched. When the damage covers most of the driveway, a rebuild usually costs less over time than repeated repairs.

Building on Red River clay

The USDA's Bossier soil series, named for this parish, is a very fine clay formed in Red River sediments that drains poorly and takes in water very slowly. Soil like that swells when it is wet, shrinks when it dries and loses strength while saturated. We probe the subgrade once the old surface is off. Soft areas are dug out and backfilled with crushed stone, the base is compacted in layers, and the finished grade is set so water heads to the street, the yard or the roadside ditch rather than toward the house.

The culvert and the ditch

Many driveways in Bossier Parish cross a roadside ditch on a culvert pipe. If that pipe is crushed, rusted through or full of silt, water backs up and soaks the base right where the driveway meets the road, which is why so many driveways fail first at the street end. We look at the culvert during the estimate. If the driveway connects to a state or U.S. highway, Louisiana DOTD's access connection permit covers the culvert and the driveway inside the right-of-way, and the property owner is the applicant. We tell you if that applies before anything is scheduled.

Thickness and edges

Your quote states the base depth and the compacted asphalt thickness. Driveways that see pickup trucks with trailers, boats or RVs get a thicker section. At the garage, the asphalt is tapered to meet the slab without a lip. Along the sides, we compact past the paved edge so the asphalt has support, then backfill soil once it cools; unsupported edges are where Louisiana driveways crumble first.

Living with new asphalt in the heat

With July highs averaging in the 90s, a new driveway stays soft for its first summer. Keep cars off it for the first few days, avoid turning the wheel while parked, move where you park now and then, and put a board under jack stands and kickstands. Sealcoating waits until the asphalt has cured, which HomeGuide puts at 3 to 6 months.