There are many justifications for why you should install a gravel parking lot for your business. It might be a temporary fix, a method for reducing expenses, or a forerunner to a paved asphalt or concrete parking lot, however there are a couple of things you really want to consider before you introduce a gravel parking lot.
To help you through the process as smoothly as possible, here are a few things to consider before laying a gravel parking lot.
Is it Temporary or Permanent?
First, decide whether your gravel parking lot will be temporary or permanent. A temporary gravel parking lot requires much less preparation and planning, usually being laid within a shallow, excavated subgrade.
Temporary gravel-only parking lots are simply gravel sites without any pavers holding the gravel in place. As a result, the gravel tends to groove and scatter easily.
They can work as a temporary solution, yet will be a constant headache because of mud, ruts and dust. This may not be appropriate for your business.
You can greatly improve permanent gravel parking lots with a bit more preparation. If you want to stabilize the gravel, remove dust and mud, and ensure easy maintenance, simply lay down a plastic grid paver on top of compacted gravel. Fill it with gravel to create an affordable temporary or permanent gravel solution.Most urban areas code gravel-only as impenetrable just like asphalt or concrete and require offsetting drainage and detention. With a penetrable plastic grid system, you have options.
You can essentially settle the gravel to stop the headaches. Or you can add a detention base under the grid surface to meet stormwater confinement codes. You can use the lot for 60 years or 6 months. When you’re done with the temporary lot or repurposing the site, simply pick up and reuse the plastic grid.
In short, permeable plastic grid pavers are perfect for temporary parking lots. They also create lasting, durable gravel parking lots that outperform other materials like asphalt and concrete.
HOW TO BUILD THE PERFECT GRAVEL PARKING LOT
For gravel parking lot construction that can perform similarly as well as other common types of parking lots, you’ll need to find a great paver company. The patented system is designed specifically for commercial and industrial applications.
They are 100 percent penetrable, meaning they give worked in stormwater detainment limit and drainage directly into the soil beneath.
WHY USE A GRAVEL PARKING LOT?
There are many reasons behind why you should utilize gravel parking lot construction rather than concrete or asphalt. The installation time is much quicker as well. There are additionally more style options, room for creativity with multiple types of gravel for use, as well as various sorts of lot lines. The production, transportation, and installation are designed to be as energy-efficient and eco-friendly as possible.
THE DOWNSIDES OF TEMPORARY GRAVEL LOTS
Despite the fact that they can act as a quick fix. It’s simpler to invest the time and effort into introducing gravel-filled grid lot that can be either a temporary or permanent lot. Rather than setting yourself up to deal with the myriad of problems that gravel-only lots can present. Challenges such as potholes, wash-outs, dust clouds leading to scatter, and traffic-related gravel migration will all eventually happen if you install a gravel-only parking lot without pavers.
You might even need to worry about a drainage system as well, depending on what type of soil your gravel parking lot has directly beneath it in the subgrade. Gravel lots become compacted over time and are essentially impervious and are coded as such. Less permeable soil types like clay may require additional means to drain your parking lot when it rains., so that you don’t have to deal with large-scale flooding in your lot as well.
THE RIGHT TYPE OF GRAVEL LOT CAN WORK FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Most people consider gravel parking lot construction to be low-rent. But what many are now understanding is that they can be extremely attractive. Depending on the gravel fill used for the grid system. The natural aesthetic combined with the drainage and permeability benefits not to mention cost advantage really makes this the best solution for most sites.
Not only do they outperform asphalt and concrete in terms of durability, stylistic variance, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendliness. But you can also easily pull them up and replace them with another type of material if you choose. This makes them the perfect product to experiment with for installing your first gravel parking lot. Those that have tested the system now use it as SOP for new lot construction.
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