Asphalt Paving Contractor in Tamaqua, PA

Asphalt driveways for Tamaqua's older homes

The 2020 Census counted 6,916 people in Tamaqua. Census survey figures put about 64 percent of the borough's homes at 1939 or earlier. Only about 2 percent were built in 2000 or later.

Attached homes outnumber detached ones in the borough, about 1,400 to 800 in the same survey. On twins and rowhomes, water off one paved area can run onto the next lot. Pennsylvania's stormwater law expects anyone who changes the land to keep runoff from harming other property. So the slope of a new driveway or parking pad matters as much as the asphalt.

When an old driveway is worn but solid underneath, asphalt resurfacing puts a fresh layer on top. When the base has failed, the old asphalt comes out. Then the driveway gets rebuilt on a new stone base.

Why does pavement settle and crack in Tamaqua?

Start with the ground. NRCS soil maps show close to a third of the borough as strip-mine land and mine dumps. Another fifth is steep, extremely stony mountain soil. Disturbed ground like that can settle unevenly under a driveway or a lot.

So the work starts below the asphalt. Soft spots get dug out, and the stone base is built up and compacted. On a slope, the finished grade has to carry water to the side, away from the house.

Then water does its damage. NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for the Tamaqua station show about 54 inches of rain and melted snow a year. Snowfall alone averages about 43 inches. Water that gets into cracks freezes and pushes them wider, and asphalt sealcoating helps keep it out of the surface.

Permits and approvals for paving in Tamaqua Borough

Tamaqua Borough's Code Enforcement and Zoning office handles zoning permits. Its application form lists sidewalks and off-street parking areas among the kinds of work. The plot plan asks for the square feet of hard, impervious surface on the lot, before and after. New asphalt adds to that number.

A new driveway entrance needs its own approval first. On a borough street, the borough issues a driveway permit. On a state highway, the approval is a highway occupancy permit from PennDOT. Either way, the borough will not process the zoning permit without it.

The Tamaqua Historic District, listed on the National Register in 2001, adds one more step. There, the zoning permit waits on a Certificate of Appropriateness. That review starts with the borough's Historical Architectural Review Commission, then goes to Borough Council.

Bigger jobs add another check. Disturbing 5,000 square feet of ground or more calls for an erosion control plan. The Schuylkill County Conservation District reviews it. The property owner is responsible for these approvals, and we point you to the right office.

Parking lot paving for Tamaqua businesses

The borough has put work into its downtown. Its economic development page points to work on the Five Points intersection and on downtown streetscapes. Tamaqua is also part of the state's City Revitalization and Improvement Zone program. It reinvests state tax dollars in underused real estate.

A business lot carries delivery trucks as well as cars. The base and the asphalt get sized for the heaviest traffic the lot will see. We pave new lots and replace lots that have broken down. Where a lot is still sound, hot asphalt patching fixes potholes before they spread.