The United States is a nation of roads, and ever since the early 1900s, countless miles of roads, highways, parking lots, and more have been put down to allow cars and trucks to get around. Cars have grown from a novelty to a mainstream way of getting around, and roads and highways are essential for buses and trucks, too. After all, a lot of domestic American shipping is done by truck, and trucks are also used for international trade with Canada to the north. This means that not only should fresh pavement and roads be put down as needed, but existing roads should be taken good care of. A rough and worn-out road is a hassle to drive on at best, and at worst, such roads can damage the vehicles that drive on them. An asphalt company can help with this, and sandblasting is a fine way to prepare a road or parking lot for pavement striping or just routine cleaning. Fixing cracked concrete may be another duty of highway crews, and striping parking spots is something to take seriously. What are the advantages of sandblasting?
The United States and Roads
Sandblasting is a fine technique for caring for modern roads, but the technology of roads had to start somewhere. Ever since the turn of the 1900s, early model cars were used across North America and Europe, and the first proper roads had to be built for them. At the time, cars were a fairly new invention, and existing roads had horse-drawn carriages and carts in mind. In the United States in particular, the first concrete road was built in Detroit. This early road was only one mile long and cost around #13,000 to make. As the 1900s and 1910s progressed, cities started to see more and more pavement roads put down, but traffic then was different than what is seen today. Cars back then were slow and not too common, so trolleys, horse-drawn carriages, and even pedestrians shared the roads with those cars. Modern traffic signs and pavement markings were practically unknown.
By the 1920s, during the post-war boom, cars became faster and more common, and proper car ads appeared. Thee ads were not unlike today’s ads, advertising cars as a great way for families to go on vacation together. And by the 1950s, in another post-war boom, the Highway Act, signed by President Dwight Eisenhower, rapidly expanded the network of highways and roads across the United States. This took place as cars experienced another surge in popularity, and by now, traffic became what we know today. Many millions of cars and trucks share American roads, and many signs and paint markings help regulate the flow of traffic as well as keep pedestrians safe.
Treat the Pavement
Roads are under a lot of pressure to bear the weight of many cars and trucks driving on them, and they will wear out over time. Existing roads and parking lots can be treated, though, and refreshed when asphalt companies take care of them. Sandblasting is one such idea. This is just what it sounds like: using air-pressurized sand grains to scour a road or parking lot’s surface free of grime, debris, and anything else undesirable. This is a popular strategy among road crews partly because it does not leave behind harmful residue the way chemicals would. Sandblasting can be used to make a road look fresher, and it can also help prepare a surface for painting.
Roads and parking lots alike need paint to work well. On the road, yellow and white lines keep lanes and traffic directions neatly sorted, and markings are also put down for pedestrians and marking turn lanes. Parking lots have the parking spaces defined by paint, as well as arrows for the direction of traffic. Over time, these markings might fade, and an unmarked parking lot can be a hassle to navigate. So, asphalt and paint crews may first scour the parking lot free of debris by means of sandblasting, then get to work. Sandblasting removes the last of the old paint, and it also preps the surface for new paint. After all, sandblasting creates a heavily marked and varied surface where paint may get a better grip once it’s put down. This is a major factor in painting a parking lot.