Why preserve a parking lot 1 yr after installation?

The bottom line:  IT SAVES MONEY!
Proven: FHWA, FAA, NAVFAC, MDOT, and AZDOT data all conclude, for $1 spent on Asphalt Preservation, up to $11 is saved by reducing replacement costs and extending pavement life.

Why does it work?
Preventing asphalt binder oxidation is a "first priority" and is critical to pavement longevity. According to FHWA research data, up to 80% of pavement flexibility is lost during the first 5 years. In other words, your pavements’ vital oils, essential for high performance, escape at a rapid pace and contribute to the Condition of your pavement.

While pavements in Good Condition, may perform well, you can sustain your lots in New Condition well before pavements begin to show signs of age and oxidation. GSB-88 ® (Gilsonite Sealer Binder), seals and traps all the New Oils present during manufacture deep inside that maintain, pliability, ductility, and flexibility—and keep the damaging weather and elements locked OUT of your binder.

Like the way butter seeps down into bread, GSB®’s unique molecular properties create a durable seal that not only keep aggregates tightly glued together, but penetrate down to become part of the matrix itself. The outcome is a binder with unmatched strength–durability and bonding properties with high density.

Original pavement performance, in this case, NEW CONDITION, is preserved for decades of trouble free pavements and load carrying capabilities!...and YOU SAVE MONEY!

A Healthy Outside Starts From the Inside!

Preserve the binder and maintain high pavement performance while doubling the life of your parking lots!

This is a different way of thinking about the health of your pavements. Rather than being REACTIVE to what happens to your asphalt and throwing a lot of money at repairs, this is a process of being PROACTIVE and protecting one of your most expensive assets!

Let us show you how to sustain your parking lots with GSB-88® as part of a sound Asphalt Preservation Maintenance Strategy! Contact Us Today!

Can Asphalt Preservation REALLY Impact a Pavement's Load-Carrying Capability?

There are
always variables affecting a road, but the impact of preventive maintenance
can be this noticeable!










What Determines the Load-Carrying Capability of Asphalt Pavement?
Asphalt pavement mixes are mostly made of Aggregates (90-95% of the pavement mix, by weight) and Asphalt Binder (4-8% of the pavement mix, by weight).

Aggregates provide most of the load-bearing properties of the mix. I.E., crushed stone, gravel, and sand–all hard, inert mineral materials. In contrast, as defined by the FHWA, the Asphalt Binder, typically produced by refineries during petroleum processing, is the thermoplastic materials and sticky substance that holds everything together.

When your Binder is left unpreserved, it dries out/loses flexibility and vital oils, and is no longer able to hold the Aggregates in place. When Aggregates become loose, the Load-Carrying Capabilities of your pavement are severely compromised–and your pavement will continue to decrease in Grade/Quality/Usability.

There is ABSOLUTELY something you can do to preserve YOUR pavement’s load-carrying ability and halt the deterioration cycle–ASPHALT PRESERVATION.
The FHWA states, "Preservation addresses minor deficiencies early, before the defects become major problems, and extends the life of the asset at a relatively low cost. A strong preservation program is essential to asset management."

We ARE the Asphalt Preservation Specialists!
Gee is a Family company and we have been conducting research on best-practices for more than 60 yrs! Do you want to know how you can maintain the Load-Carrying Capabilities of your pavement?  Give us a call, drop us an email, or connect with us via social media. We'd love to share our expertise with you!

Road Maintenance: We need to change our thinking–NOW.

Not just up to Congress to fix:
In the news, the ASCE graded our 4+ million miles of public roadways a “D” and ranked us 16th in the world! They concluded:

Plus, our economy is impacted as freight is slowed down, diverted, impeded on the way to ports, railways, and city centers—and the cost is passed down to the consumer.

This is making news alongside our almost bankrupt Federal Highway Trust Fund.
But, ear-marking more money and resources to reconstruct a lot of failing roads now just means the cycle will repeat itself in 20 years–and be even more expensive and dire.

This isn’t a problem that has crept up on us overnight.
The snowball has been forming as regular maintenance initiatives have been put on the back-burner. Especially repairing minor surface defects, that don’t seem to impact the average traveler and are expected even as roads age, are often perceived as unnecessary and even wasteful spending by states, counties, and municipalities.

We’ve been building roads the same way for 50 years:
The traditional way we think about the life of a road is adding to the problem. Even today, we build a road based on a 20 yr life-cycle, leave it alone for a number of years “because it looks and performs Good”, and then act when the damage is clearly visible with varying degrees of fixes; patches, crack-sealing, overlays—often determined by what’s available in the budget and not what’s best for the health of the road.

One significant problem:
By the time the damage IS seen, over time, the binder strength has already been compromised.

The “fix” does not work:

• It does NOT improve binder health
• It uses a lot of resources for little gain

In other-words, It does NOT significantly extend the life of the road.
Also, since the lion’s share of the road maintenance budget went towards trying to fix Poor Condition roads, little if any is left to maintain Good Condition roads.

A better way—We MUST Maintain Good Condition Roads:
Asphalt Preservation with GSB-88:

• Penetrates into the pavement matrix; becomes part of the surface of asphalt, sealing and binding aggregates tightly together.
• Halts surface oxidation/weathering
• Lasts 2x as long as other products/extends pavement life
• Saves 10x over the Cost of 1 Asphalt Overlay!

The Future Impact:

We need take responsibility NOW-road by road-at the local, county, state, and federal level, and do our part to ensure a sustainable infrastructure for our children.

If all Good Condition roads were maintained and preserved on a regular schedule not only would there be significant cost-savings, but road life would be extended 20-30, even 40+ yrs!

Sound too good to be true? We have pavements that have been in service for 42+ yrs! Let us show you how you can create sustainable roads. Contact us today!

FAA revised "P" Specifications Listing

The recently published Federal Aviation Administration’s revised Advisory Circular contains new and revised “P” Specs.

They are as follows:

P-608
Emulsified Asphalt Seal Coat
Recommended Use:
For ALL airfield pavements – including runways, low speed taxiways, shoulders, overruns, roads, parking areas. For maximum benefit, apply to new asphalt pavement and pavements in fair or better condition.

P-609
Bituminous Surface Treatments
Recommended Use:
For airports serving small airplanes 12,500lbs (5670 kg) or less.
Not recommended for routine turbo-prop and jet engine aircraft.
Warning: May leave excessive amounts of loose aggregate on pavement surface. Only recommended for pavements other than airfield pavements.
* Use on overruns, roads, and other general applications.

P-626
Emulsified Asphalt Slurry Seal Surface Treatment
Recommended Use:
For airports serving small airplanes 12,500lbs (5670 kg) or less, some 60,000lbs (27216 kg) or less exceptions.

P-629
Thermoplastic Coal Tar Emulsion Surface Treatments
&
P-630
Refined Coal Tar Emulsion w/out Additives, Slurry Seal Surface Treatment
&
P-631
Refined Coal Tar Emulsion With Additives, Slurry Seal Surface Treatment
Recommended Use:
For airports serving small airplanes 12,500lbs (5670 kg) or less, some 60,000lbs (27216 kg) or less exceptions.
Warning: Many states and local authorities prohibit the use of coal tar products with environmental/safety regulations. 

P-632
Bituminous Pavement Rejuvenation (Reclamite)
Recommended Use:
For airports serving small airplanes 12,500lbs (5670 kg) or less.
*Use on pavements other than airfield pavements.
Note: the term “rejuvenation product” carries the same connotation as the term “rejuvenator” or “rejuvenator/sealer.”

Sustainability and the case for Pavement Preservation

(adapted from ASI research)
All of us in the pavement industry are ultimately responsible for how to best sustain our pavements. 



FACT

• There is an enormous amount of pavement in the world, and the quantity is growing every year;
• Economically & environmentally, it is infinitely cheaper & better for the planet to maintain pavement than to replace it;
• Some methods of pavement preservation are much “greener” and therefore more sustainable than others;
• To move forward sustainably on local and global levels, asphalt pavement simply must be preserved wisely.

World Pavement Numbers

There are nearly 3-million miles of paved roads in the U.S. alone - enough to circle the earth 120x at the equator. Total U.S. farmland is approximately 80,000 square miles, while pavement (including parking lots and airfields) is approximately 61,000 square miles. China and India are close behind and growing quickly; globally, we will soon exceed 12-million miles of paved roads. Each additional car requires an average of .18 paved acres (road & parking), meaning that 5 cars require an additional football field of pavement.



The reality is that pavements pose a sustainability challenge. Their construction and maintenance consumes large quantities of non-renewable materials, while also creating significant energy and environmental impacts. In the U.S. alone, over 350 million tons of raw materials go into the construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance of pavements annually.

Maintenance Considerations

“Environmentally friendly” can often mean “more expensive,” but that is not the case with pavement preservation options. Economically, over a pavement’s 20-30 year lifespan, it is 10x cheaper to maintain existing asphalt than to replace it. And environmentally, enormous resources are saved: studies have shown that if all pavements were properly maintained rather than repaved, global CO2 emissions could be reduced by over 1 billion metric tons per year, which equals an annual 3% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions.

Naturally, some pavement preservation products are “greener” and therefore more sustainable than others. Water-based emulsions are widely recognized as a better environmental choice than fuel-based cutbacks. GSB-88® sealer/binder/rejuvenator emulsion represents a very economical, versatile, and environmentally friendly option – plus it is the only industry product to receive an Environmental Product Declaration as well as Green Circle Certification.

Even larger sustainability differences can be found in various pavement preservation methods, shown in the chart below.

Annualized Energy Consumption & Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions per Type of Treatment:

Sustainability is an economic and environmental priority in today’s world, and proper asphalt preservation represents a significant part of it. Asphalt pavement comprises nearly 2% of the earth’s surface, and preserving it wisely can save billions of dollars every year while also reducing annual global greenhouse emissions up to 3%. Affordable and resource-friendly solutions are readily available; utilizing these products and processes properly will help achieve the decoupling of economic growth and environmental decline, and thereby move the planet forward more sustainably.

(full article and research references can be viewed at http://www.asphaltsystemsinc.com/blog/item/sustainability-and-pavement-preservation)

Seeing is Believing, GSB Works!

If you visit Gee’s headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Ia, we'll invite you on the Asphalt Preservation Tour. Because, we haven’t just recently expanded into Asphalt Preservation methods and can only speculate about their performance. No, we have been conducting independent research since the 1970s! 

Not only have our research results remained consistent, but similar studies and findings conducted by expert entities including NAVFAC, FHWA, FAA, MDOT, and AZDOT have also proven the quantifiable benefits of Asphalt Preservation in sustaining the performance of asphalt pavements.

Case in point, Lakeside Drive:
* Installed in 2001
* 100 yard test pavement area
* Left lane treated with
   GSB every 5 years,
   while Right lane   
   remained untreated.

13 years later--the outcome is astounding!

Aggregates in the GSB lane remain tightly glued down while the lane itself appears to be from a much newer installation.

However, the untreated right lane is a real mess--severe cracking and raveling has allowed moisture and other elements to seep down and dry out the binder and completely weaken the pavement structure!

Both lanes are the same age, but it is clear the Right untreated lane, in Poor Condition, is nearing the end of it’s usefulness while the Left lane treated with GSB remains in Good Condition.



Here at Gee Asphalt, we have pavements that have been on a continuous asphalt preservation program for 40+ years and counting!

See for yourself how GSB can sustain pavement life! Give us a call for a free quote and start sustaining your pavements today!
Watch full video at :    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SecDJJNqt8E

Why should you preserve a perfectly Good Runway?

Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL):
How a Pro-active Pavement Maintenance Strategy is saving this airport millions!

The Need for a Pro-active Strategy:
"In mountainous areas subject to extreme weather conditions, asphalt will fail after only 12 years, even if a runway was initially designed to structurally hold for 20 years."
–William VanHercke, Manager, Aviation Services, CH2M HILL's Northwest Mountain Region

“Research shows that if airports maintain asphalt pavement every three to five years, they can get more than 20 years out of a runway – if not 30.” –Joel Harry, Airfield Civil Engineer, Project Manager, CH2M HILL

"We (had) an absolutely perfect runway So, one month after it was finished, we completed a 20-year maintenance plan to make sure it stayed in that same condition."
–RIL Airport Director, Brian Condie

The Plan (Get Ahead of Deterioration Cycles):
Historically, RIL was forced to shut down each year for several days while the pavement surface was closely inspected and every crack sealed. This was a terrible inconvenience and loss of revenue for the airport and the whole community. Plus, Some RIL's runway pavement and joints were showing signs of premature raveling–only 3 short years after the runway was refurbished.
 
But, instead of waiting five years before taking steps to maintain their Good Condition runway, RIL developed a pro-active maintenance strategy to postpone a full resurfacing.

GSB Is the Solution:
RIL sought the advice of Asphalt Systems to determine the best long-term maintenance strategy while keeping the runway looking and performing like brand new. Together, it was decided GSB was the best solution.

GSB-88, made from a natural black bitumen, contains a rejuvenating agent that penetrates into the matrix providing long-term protection, while keeping the pavement pliable and flexible. And, because GSB is made from a long-chain hydrocarbon, it is extremely resistant to moisture and ultraviolet rays–preventing UV rays from breaking down vital oils.

GSB Is a Budget-saver!
Because the project came in around $300,000 (vs. the originally anticipated $470,000), RIL was able to carry over the airport's entitlement funds for use on a bigger project the following year.

But the money saving doesn’t stop there.
“By performing prompt preventative maintenance every few years, the airport expects to spend $1.5 million over 25 years vs. an estimated $6 million to resurface the runway twice."–William VanHercke, Manager, Aviation Services, CH2M HILL's Northwest Mountain Region

That’s over 3x in savings!!!

3 years after application, the GSB-treated surface remains in “like new” condition and performance! Now that’s a Win-Win result!

Plus, the New FAA P-608 Specification calls for Gilsonite Modified Asphalt Emulsion (GSB) to be used on all airfield pavements, including runways and high-speed taxiways! Start saving money and sustain the look and performance of your runway!
Contact us today!
--------------------------

Full quotes and related article:
Airport Improvement Magazine http://www.airportimprovement.com/content/story.php?article=00516

New FAA P-608 Specification Calls for Emulsified Asphalt Seal Coat

Proven on 400+ airfields and 300+ runways nationwide, GSB-88® qualifies for AIP funds! 

The recently published Federal Aviation Administration’s revised Advisory Circular contains new and revised “P” Specs. One of the new additions is P-608 Emulsified Asphalt Seal Coat which calls
for Gilsonite Modified Asphalt Emulsion to be used on ALL airfield pavements, including runways and high-speed taxiways. Although P-608 is a new FAA specification, Gilsonite Modified Asphalt Emulsions have been used as highly effective airfield pavement preservation tools for 40+ years.

Gilsonite is Green Circle Certified and fully compatible with bitumen. As a resin, can be melted into hot bitumen, added during the hot-mix manufacturing  process, or blended into a preservation treatment as a uniform, easily workable product with minimal downtime.

Better than a typical sealer that sticks on top and wears away while allowing damage to weaken runway binders, GSB® penetrates through and becomes part of the surface creating a superior barrier against the elements, fuel spillage, and breakdown during daily use. Grooved runways need not be re-grooved, nor are PFC (porous friction course) asphalt surfaces altered.  

Gee Asphalt Systems, Inc.
    •    Family Owned and Operated.
    •    Recognized & Trusted Nationwide.
    •    Long-established Industry Leaders.
    •    Leaders in Advancing Preservation Strategies.
    •    Our skilled team of technicians and craftsmen have a combined experience of 150+ years.

As one of approximately 65 GSB® dealers in the United States, Gee Asphalt is the ONLY GSB® applicator with 41+ years of continuous experience traveling to projects nationwide. Let us show you how you can sustain your runways AND save money!