4 Key Ways Asphalt Paving in Wisconsin Helps the Community

You might not know it, but asphalt pavement boasts benefits you’d never imagine attributing to the road beneath your tires and the driveway beneath your feet. In fact, I’d argue that asphalt pavement is the unsung hero of the paving world, helping the local community in many ways.

According to the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA,) asphalt covers more than 94% of paved roadways in the United States, and for that we’d like to pay tribute to this literal trailblazer.

Take a look at the 4 key ways asphalt paving in Wisconsin helps the local community:

1. Asphalt Makes for a Quiet Ride 
   Open-graded asphalt pavement, also referred to as "quiet pavement", is constructed with large air voids, which act to reduce tire and road noise by absorbing some of the noise energy. In fact, open-graded asphalt actually lowers highway noise by about 3 to 5 decibels (dBA.) To provide some perspective, city traffic produces 78 dBA of sound, while a conversation between two people generally produces about 65 dBA. On an asphalt surface, noise can be reduced to near conversation levels.
2. Asphalt Pavement is Recyclable
   You might be surprised to learn that asphalt is one of the most recycled materials in the United States. This is because asphalt can be reused repeatedly through a re-heating process. Wolf Paving recycles 100% of asphalt removed from jobsites, and we often accept excess recyclable materials from private contractors.
   
   At Wolf Paving, we own the materials and asphalt plants, which allows us to recycle and produce asphalt pavement suited specifically for the weather in our services areas of Greater Milwaukee and Madison.
3. Asphalt Creates Jobs
   That’s right, in addition to helping you get to and from work, asphalt also helps to create local jobs. According to the NAPA, for every $1 billion in federal spending on highway construction nationwide, nearly 28,000 jobs are created.
4. Asphalt Outperforms Concrete
   Weather in the Midwest can be unforgiving and unpredictable. In cold climates, asphalt outperforms concrete because of its ability to adapt to changing weather and temperatures. Concrete, despite its durability, can fall victim to frost heaving, which occurs when soil begins to freeze, causing the ground to swell upward. As a result of frost heaving and changes in pressure, concrete has a tendency to crack.

So here’s to you asphalt, and all the wonderful things you do for our local community. Of course, as Milwaukee and Madison asphalt specialists, we are pretty fond of all things paving.

Was there anything you thought of that we might have missed? What sort of asphalt facts do find interesting that didn’t make the list? Leave a comment below, and tell us about it.

For more information on Wolf Paving’s services or to request a detailed estimate, please call our Milwaukee area office at 262-965-2121. If you live in the Madison area, please call 608-249-7931. We offer residential, commercial and municipality paving services.

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