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As we always say here at APCON, your driveway and parking lot represent an important first impression of your business.  And a not-so-subtle one at that.

When customers and visitors drive up to your building, does it look like you have rolled out the red carpet for them with a clean, safe, attractive pavement, or does it look like you don’t care about upkeep and instead leave potholes, cracks, and alligatored areas to fester?

Recently, Manufacturers’ Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington, PA contacted us because a large area of their driveway had developed problem spots that needed to be addressed.  APCON was able to come in and re-pave this damaged section, restoring a beautiful look that is conducive to such an esteemed club, all while minimizing disruption to the Club’s traffic flow and pedestrian usage.

The project included an asphalt paving overlay and a new stormwater inlet, and we completed it all in a day.  The Club was thrilled with the improvements and our quick turnaround time.  We enjoyed the opportunity to handle this job and work at such a historic golf club in the Philadelphia area.  And, undoubtedly, drivers will appreciate the smoothe pavement that greets them upon entering the club’s grounds.

To see some shots from after our work was completed, click on any of the thumbnails below to view larger images of the site.

If your parking lot or driveway has gone into disrepair, fear not, APCON can help!  Associated Paving Contractors has expertise in doing the job right all while minizing disruption to your business.  Please call us at 215-672-8000 or email us today to see how we might be able to improve your grounds efficiently and affordably.

Just this morning, the third major water main break in the last week and a half occurred in Philadelphia, this time soaking an intersection in North Philadelphia.  Previously there was a water main break on July 22nd in South Philadelphia, as well as one on July 29th in Northeast Philadelphia.

What gives?

For a short, smart aleck answer– the water main pipe “gives.”   But in all seriousness, this is a very disruptive problem to local residents who may lose water delivery or find lower water pressure in their homes, as well as to commuters who may have to circumvent the affected area, and, of course, the workers who are undoubtedly physically taxed from having to make so many major repairs to the water mains in a short amount of time.

The Philadelphia Water Department has information on water main breaks, including why they happen and what to do in the event that they affect your house.  This information is not exclusive to Philadelphians, by the way.  Briefly, the water mains break for various reasons, but usually there is a factor of the pipe being corroded over the years, or there is extreme pressure placed on the pipe from any given side which can cause it to rupture and spew thousands of gallons of water out into the streets above.

Hopefully, the water mains will stay in tact in your area for many years to come, but it’s helpful to be aware of what’s going on with that water flowing right under your feet.

Got a question about our paving services?  Please feel free to contact us at 215-672-8000 or email us if you have a project you would like to talk to us about.

In recent weeks, we’ve talked about Philadelphia’s ambitious plans for using more porous paving in local streets as well as research from Toronto about the possibility of using asphalt pavement as an energy source.

Now comes an intriguing article by Forbes about Chicago’s Department of Transportation recycling roof shingles, used tires, and reclaimed pavement from other streets and utilizing the mix to pave the famous Michigan Avenue.

As described in the Forbes article, this was a bold move due to the challenge of working with the various materials, but the results have been very successful.  The cited benefits of this mix are that it’s about 40% cheaper, the street is of higher quality, and it’s more noise absorbent than traditional pavement.

We here at APCON applaud these efforts and we look forward to seeing this mix of recycled products become more widespread.

Check out this example of porous paving in action, courtesy of Hudson Valley’s Your News Now.

Though porous paving is a technology whereby asphalt pavement drains water through it is over 30 years old, it is becoming more prevalent as townships deal with flooding and storm water drainage issues.

Though porous pavement may not be suitable in every location, it can serve a valuable purpose for areas that get flooded easily (like the area near Lake George, as cited in the first link above).   And with townships and cities looking to improve upon their city infrastructure, we anticipate porous paving will gain interest amongst city planners in years ahead.

Looking to install porous paving in your parking area or roadway in the Philadelphia area?  Please feel free to contact us here at APCON and we’d be happy to talk to you about it.  Call us at 800-887-2222 or email us at your earliest convenience.

In our last blog post, we talked about Philadelphia’s “Green 2015” program and how the City of Philadelphia aims to remove unused pavement in the City and install green areas instead.

An article recently crossed our desk about a related topic, and this time it was National Geographic’s take on Philadelphia’s “Green City Clean Waters Program.” The program was designed to better manage stormwater runoff in a city with a sewer system that can get inundated when it rains, and subsequently draw pollution out to the Schuykill and Delaware Rivers.

This article is a good read for Philadelphia area residents, or for anybody who is interested in improving the way cities interact with the environment, as well as those of us who are into anything and everything pavement related(!).

One prime area of change that is touted in this article is the usage of permeable paving (also called “porous” or “previous” paving), which is an asphalt surface that allows water to pass through it to the ground, while also allowing traffic to pass over it. Permeable paved surfaces help to prevent streets from getting backed up with stormwater during rain storms, minimize pollution in water runoff, and lessen the need for additional infrastructure to help move stormwater safely from the streets.

And, on a side note, did you know that permeable paving was developed in Philadelphia at the Franklin Institute in 1977? Pretty wild how things can come full circle.

And, on another side note and shameless bit of self-promotion, Associated Paving Contractors has experience with installing permeable paving surfaces throughout the Delaware Valley area. If you would like to learn more about this innovative paving technique and how it may or may not be the right fit for your planned paving project, please feel free to give us a call at 215-672-8000 or email us today. Thank you.

About three weeks ago, we posted an article about an article from the Better Business Bureau regarding asphalt paving scammers who go around to houses door-to-door, offering to perform work on driveways at dirt cheap prices.

Well, just yesterday a swindler in Maryland was sent to jail for racking up $63,000+ in fraudulent sales of pavement services, on top of $80,000 he swindled in South Carolina… and who knows how much more that we don’t even know about.

Fortunately he won’t be able to scam anybody else for the next two years as he will be spending his time in the crossbar motel.  But, sadly, it’s doubtful that most of the victims– mostly senior citizens– will get their money back from him anytime soon, if ever.

So, once again, if any purported paving pro who pops up at your front door unexpectedly and offers to pave your driveway for a pittance, kick ’em to the curb!  And do alert your local police department as this may be an illegal undertaking in your area.

As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.  You’ve been warned…

APCON is now driving down the social media superhighway…

It’s official– You can now follow APCON on Twitter! Check us out at: @APCONpaving

We will be tweeting about paving-related topics such as maintenance tips, informative articles, updates from the daily world of Associated Paving Contractors, and other interesting things going on in the community… and perhaps some surprises along the way. We’d love to follow you as well, just let us know.

Your Twitter feed will never be the same!

You might be driving your car on a future source of power.

Paved asphalt, as anybody who has walked down a city street in the summer can tell you, is a tremendous absorber of heat from solar energy– hence the term “heat island effect” during hot days.  Well, if researchers from Canada have their way, there may be an opportunity to utilize the heat-absorbing effect of asphalt as an effective power source.

According to an article on thestar.com entitled, “Hot asphalt an untapped source of power”,