7 Features of Asphalt 

Asphalt has been an important ingredient in different commercial or residential roadway projects. The design requirements as well as the mix design methods play a crucial role for all asphalt concrete mixtures. The Department of Transportation who has the authority for the paving construction commonly is the one that establishes the mix design method and requirements.  

After being established, the responsibility is passed on to the producer or contractor and his technicians to create a mix within the set standards and specification requirements similar to what asphalt paving Arlington are following. The following are the properties that asphalt concrete must have:  

1.Durability 

Durability is the asphalt’s ability to withstand factors such as changes caused by oxidation and polymerization, aggregates’ disintegrations, and the stripping of the binder films. These all can be caused by traffic, weather changes, and other environmental factors.  

The asphalt mixture can be enhanced through these three procedures: 

  • A dense gradation of aggregate that is stripping-resistant 
  • Using maximum binder content 
  • Compacting the asphalt mixture 

2.Stability 

Stability means the ability of the asphalt to resist rutting and shoving under heavy loads especially under traffic. This implies that the pavement made by the asphalt material could maintain its shape even under repeated loading.  

The requirements are and the stability specifications depend on the expected traffic of the road and can be established after a very thorough traffic analysis.  

3.Fatigue Resistance 

This is the ability of the shape of the concrete to resist constant stress due to wheel loads. There has research that shows that binder viscosity air voids play a significant role in fatigue resistance. The fatigue resistance decreased when the percentage of air voids increases. Likewise, the same is also experienced when the pavement containing binder has hardened and aged.  

4.Skid Resistance 

This is feature allows the asphalt concrete to avoid accidents on the road. This is the ability of its surface to minimize slipping of vehicle tires especially when the surface is wet, which is also called skidding. The skid resistance is measured in the field at 40 miles per hour.  

5.Workability 

This is the easiness the paving mixture can be manipulated and compacted. This also refers to to its ability to be put and to a place; hence its installment. An asphalt with poor workability is not easy to use and could create problems when being put and installed.  

6.Impermeability 

This is the ability to resist the air and water that goes into the asphalt and is linked to the void content of the compacted mixture.  

7.Flexibility 

This is the ability of the asphalt concrete to resist changes even amid different movements in the sub-grade without cracking or changing its shape. It is one of the promising features of asphalt concrete. Dense-graded asphalt concrete with low binder content is less flexible than an open-graded asphalt concrete with high binder content. 

Final thoughts  

Not that you have learned the features that a good asphalt concrete needs to possess, it is time to assess of the asphalt concrete on the road has qualified to the standards.  

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Excellent Tips to Make Your Wedding Extra Awesome

    Our wedding is arguably one of the most significant events in our life. In this event, we are uniting ourselves to our husband or wife, exchanging our oaths of love for each other. Aside from this most special moment, our wedding is also memorable because of the wedding reception that comes after. This is where we celebrate the event with the people closest to our hearts, our family, friends, and colleagues. 

    With this said, people prepare their wedding long before the event, and they put extra work and planning to make it awesome. If you are of these people, you need not be frightened or overwhelmed with the task; you only need to be smart with what you have and making most out of it. To help you in this task, here is a list of excellent tips to make your wedding extra awesome.  

1.    Hire A Limo Services 

Because wedding only occurs once in a lifetime, why not try lavish things for just this occasion, like hiring a limo service. Allow your bride to arrive in the church with dashing style as she experiences the ride of queens and princesses as the limo delivers her into your waiting arms.  

Aside for the groom and bride, a limo service is also excellent to treat your guests like VIPs. After all, these people that are close to your hearts like your parents and closest friends deserve to be treated and spoiled this day as you are grateful for all the things they have done for you along the way. Call raleigh wedding limo service for reservations and inquiries. 

2.    Hire Catering Service 

A wedding a celebration, and a celebration is epic if the food that is served is fantastic and tasteful. Instead of asking your mom or your aunt cook and prepare the food, let them enjoy the festivities and hire a catering service instead. Catering services make sure that their food is high-quality and tasteful, this is their job, and they need to impress people. Most of the catering services also have a waiting service, so you would not have to deal with serving your guests for dinner. 

3.    Unexpected Entertainment 

Sometimes, what makes an event memorable is the things that have happened that are not expected. What could be more surprising than the bride and groom dancing to the funky music of contemporary music like from Bruno Mars? After dancing your slow dance to some romantic music, follow this up with this dance number, you are also setting up the energy for the dancing that will happen afterward. Aside from the bride and the groom, you can also offer unexpected entertainment by hiring acrobats, comedians, or magicians to entertain and dazzle the crowd.  

4.    Music 

Another component that makes a wedding extra-awesome is the music. The music would be attached to the memory of your wedding, so you better hire excellent musicians and DJs to make this event memorable. Don’t forget to suggests them with songs that are special and significant for both of your two. 

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Why Do You Need to Remodel Your Basement Very Soon?

Suppose you are torn between the decisions of remodeling your home or not. Then, you should think carefully as you don’t want to be an impulsive one. It is easy to decide without thinking about the consequences. It is harder to face the problem when you are not yet ready to solve them all.  You need to spend at least a week thinking and make your final decision on this matter. Of course, some people would think for more than one month. They wanted this way to avoid wasting their money and efforts in choosing those things first.

Suppose you are going to think many times and try to understand the situation. We don’t know when could be the best time to consider remodeling your home and rooms. Others would say that the best time could be when you have enough money to spend on the renovations. Some would disagree with this one as they believe that it should be during the time that the weather is nice and great. But most people believe that the best time is when things are already damaged so that you have a good reason and excuse to remodel or renovate the place.

You would like to consider many reasons when changing the ambiance of the basement in your house. Of course, you need to hire someone who would do the basement finishing contractors Denver there. They are the experts, so you would expect that the result is outstanding. If you have a hard time convincing yourself about the changes you can make with your own house, then we have here those things you need to feel motivated.

If you have that feeling that you want something new or changes there, you should go for a good renovation plan. Of course, if you want something different from before, you need to change some parts of what you are used to doing and having. Remember that if you are not happy with it, you can always choose to have a better one. At least you will know your mistakes and those parts that you need to improve more.

Others would love to buy something new for their homes. This is the thing that we call excitement. It is not because you always have money but the fact that it can make you feel pleased. If you plan to sell this house in the future, then you are not afraid to sell this one at a higher price.

You can always show others the reason why it is affordable for its price. Another thing here is that they don’t need to spend more money on maintenance since you have chosen the best materials here. The contractor you hired should be the best, so there is no problem with the overall structure of the house.

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Things You Could Expect in Hiring a Professional Cleaning Company

When you have a home of your own or even a business, you need to understand that as much as possible, you need to make sure that you keep your home or business establishment clean at all times. If you keep your home clean, you will certainly keep your family healthy and far from diseases. When you keep your business establishment clean, then you will certainly attract a lot of clients. This is entirely the reason why whether you are a homeowner or a business owner, you need to make sure that you keep your home or business clean and well-maintained. When you don’t have the time or strength to do so, then the next thing that you could do is to hire a professional cleaning company.

Employees from a professional cleaning company are the ones that you could trust, especially when keeping your home or business establishment clean and well-maintained. This is why you need to scrutinize them properly, especially when it comes to choosing the right one for your home or business. However, what you need to understand is that choosing the right company is not the end of your responsibility. That is, there are some things that you could expect from a company, especially if it assumes to be the best in the industry. Here are the things that you could expect from a Berkshire professional cleaning company:

1. All Rooms are Cleaned

If you are going to hire a professional cleaner, what you could expect from them is that they will be able to get all the rooms inside your home or business establishment clean and organized. That is, they will leave each room spotless and cleaner from it previously was. Therefore, as much as possible, when you hire a professional cleaning company, you need to expect them to leave each room clean and spotless.

2. Each Area is Given Special Attention

When you are going to hire a professional cleaner, you need to make sure that as much as possible, you choose someone who does not only provide cleaning service for your home, but also a company which will provide you with a personal touch in their service. Therefore, when you decide to hire a professional cleaning company, you should expect them to provide special attention especially to areas such as the kitchen, the living room and other related special rooms within your home.

3. Trust

Finally, and most importantly, when you hire a professional company, you could expect the company to be trustworthy. That is, you need to understand that a reputable company could be trusted, especially when they have been in the industry for a long time. Therefore, when you are about to hire a professional cleaning company, you need to make sure that you hire someone that has been in the industry for a long time, in order to make sure that you could trust the company to clean even the most intimate parts of your home. At the end of the day, it is you who will be enjoying the benefits that professional cleaning companies bring you.

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Three Tips to Maintain your HVAC System at Home

As a home owner, are you aware of your responsibilities in your home? Aside from paying for all of the bills and buying your daily necessities such as toiletries, food and drinks, there are some stuff that you have to take care if you are a home owner. Although having a home of your own is the best feeling in the world, there is a big responsibility that comes with it. If you have a home of your own already, you have to be ready of everything and if you are still one of those people planning to buy or make a home of their own, you have to know everything in your responsibility so that you will have a better living at the end.  

There will be no one else who can assist you except your life partner and yourself. Therefore, be sure that you are ready for these challenges because sometimes, they could also test your strength and your patience. Small instances such as the air conditioning unit or the HVAC system of your home could break down at the most unexpected time or it could disappoint you in the time when you need it the most. This is such a pain in the head for the home owner; therefore, you need to be ready to call air conditioning repair North Port so that you will be able to provide the best attention to your home with the help of the professionals.  

Even if the intervention of professionals is possible, you should not rely on them and you should also do your part in maintaining your HVAC system at home because you are the person who will be there 24/7 in your home, therefore, it will be under your watch. Thus, we have kindly listed down the different tips for you to follow to properly care for your HVAC system at home.  

TIP 1: GET RID OF THE DUST 

The presence of dust in your HVAC system at home is inevitable. It is something that you cannot avoid especially if you are using yours almost every day. You should expect dust to be at your HVAC system because this is one of the elements that it filters in your air conditioning system. Therefore, you should do something to get rid of the presence of dust. You need not to spend some dollars to do this; you could just simple wipe it so that you get all of the dust in it. This is the simplest thing you could do but this will definitely help a lot.

TIP 2: DUCT CHECKING 

The duct in your air conditioning system is very much important, therefore, this is a place that you should constantly check for leaks and other blockages that could affect the performance of your HVAC system.  

TIP 3: FILTER CHANGE 

Switch up your filter every once in a while because the problem with this is that debris including other particles such as dust could ruin this, therefore, you should replace it every once in a while. This should be a part of your budget.  

These tips are things you should try in order to protect and maintain your HVAC system at home.  

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Questions That You Should Ask Your Concrete Contractor

If you are planning to build a concrete home in your dream neighborhood, you should be looking for a good contractor to do the job for you. Concrete contractors are always a good help if you want to make sure that you will be able to build your home perfectly not just for you but for your family as a whole.  

In choosing a great concrete contractor to build the home that you have been dreaming of, you need to find a professional company that can do the job for you. You can ask concrete contractors in Milpitas or other contractors about different things that are necessary to identify the best one out of all of them. 

Here are the different questions that you should be asking your potential concrete contractors: 

  1. What are the services that you can offer me/us? 

Before you jump in with the other necessary questions, you must also ask about the services that the contractor can provide to you. Some contractors are only limited to a few services; hence, you must ask them this important question. If you do this, you can be assured that you will end up with a contractor that can offer a wide array of services, basically being a one-stop-shop to make your dream home come to life.  

  1. Are you a licensed contractor? 

This questionable is only answerable by a yes or a no. but, the only answer that you should find is YES but you have to make sure if that the contractor is telling the truth; to do so, you can ask to personally see their license and their certificates. This is the best in which you can really attest to the truthfulness of these contractors. 

  1. How long have you been a contractor? 

The experience of the contractor is a very important factor that you must consider. If the contractor has been in the business for a few years, it only means that this contractor is providing clients with good services. This is already a good sign that you have  

  1. Can you show us a picture of your craft? 

It is important that you also see photos of the finished product of the contractor of your choice. It is important that you choose a company that has a previous experience with the design and style of your dream home with your family, in this way, they will not have any problems in the construction of your home 

  1. Can you show me the contract between you and a client as a sample? 

It is important that you will see the sample of the contract before hand because in this way you will be able to identify the responsibilities of the contractor and your part as the client of the contractor. You do not need to view a signed contract between the contractor and another client, you just need to see the template or sample of their contracts before you sign one. 

These questions will be very helpful in your search for the perfect concrete contractor who will be responsible for making your dream home rise.  

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Decorating the Curtain is Great Ways

If you wanted to your house to look very entertaining and attractive then you need to make sure that you have the right things and stuff in your house or apartment. It includes the furniture that you can use for making the living room looks very fascinating to the eyes of your visitors and even to the overall atmosphere in there. Don’t forget about the appliances that could entertain your guests and also your family especially when they don’t need to go to school as it is the weekend for them. Giving a good vibe as well to your house is having the perfect custom made curtains that you could decorate to the windows of your house and the different rooms.

Custom Made Curtains

You could actually make your own curtain and design it with the one that you like your favorite flowers or cartoon characters and even using the textile that you like. Others would also simply have the borders for the curtains as they want to look this one as a natural one with a touch of creativity of their own style. Some people would add additional and colorful laces in the edge part of the curtain so that it would look very nice and girly especially if you have teenager kids. Remember to use the one that is appropriate to the theme of your house and also don’t forget having the best fabric to the room to avoid losing the quality.

Here some of the ways that you could do to make your curtains even more personalized and you would be able to come up with a great one you like.

There could be some people that they wanted to have a very artistic way of decorating the curtains as they would use the paint to match the color and style. Some would even use the stencils for the best quality of the pictures and the designs that would match to the curtain and to the wall near to the windows. It is nice as well if you are going to paint something there like the sky and the seas or the different things that you wanted to see in your curtain. It is a nice thing for the kids to explore the artistic side of them as they could draw and paint the things they like or they write a poem.

Of course, for girls they would definitely add some things that would make it look like feminine and easy to identify that the owner of the house is a female. They would consider having the ruffles and other laces on the edge part of the curtain and some would even use the colored strips of cloth to be attached there. It is the choice as well of others to sew things in there like doing the embroidery but you need to be careful as you don’t want to make mistakes. You could add some beads and other decoration stuff to the overall structure of the curtain as long as it is safe and would hold there.

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