Recommendations to Help You Demolition, Remove & Dispose of Your Old Asphalt & Concrete

When you need to remove an old asphalt or concrete paved driveway or other surface, you may not need to hire a crew to do all the work. Instead you c an do some or all the work yourself. Here are some tips to help you demo, remove, and dispose of asphalt and concrete pavement.

Removal of Pavement

Concrete

Removing an old concrete slab will require the use of either a sledgehammer or a jackhammer, depending on the slab's thickness, condition, and your ability. A sledgehammer can weigh from 12 pounds or more and an electric jackhammer can have more weight at around 90 pounds, but you will only need to hold the jackhammer upright as its power breaks the concrete apart. You can also rent a pneumatic or hydraulic powered jackhammer to give you more power while demolishing your concrete slab.

During the concrete demolition, you may also find you need a mattock or a pry bar to pry apart the broken chunks of concrete around after each crack forms. This can help you in moving the concrete chunks away from the slab and to reveal any rebar within the concrete. Be sure to also keep a pair of bolt cutters to cut apart any connecting rebar to free the concrete chunks.

Asphalt

Removing old asphalt pavement from your driveway can be a bit easier than removing concrete, as asphalt cracks apart as it gets old so it will already be broken apart. For a smaller asphalt removal job, you can use a sledgehammer, a pry bar, a flat-edged shovel, and a mattock to break apart any larger chunks and free up the asphalt from the soil. For asphalt that is well-weather and aged, you might only need a shovel to pry under each cracked section and remove it to your rubble pile with gloved hands and a wheel barrow.

For larger areas of old asphalt to be removed, you can rent a track loader, mini excavator, or other construction equipment from a local tool and equipment rental business. A track loader or mini excavator can help you rip up and scoop away the old asphalt chunks. Be sure you have a good understanding of how to run the equipment before you leave the rental business, and follow all safety protocol to use the equipment.

Disposal of Pavement

Whether you are removing a concrete slab or asphalt paving, there are several ways to dispose of or recycle the materials. It is always best to check for local recycling businesses that can recycle to reuse the old paving materials.

You may find a recycling company that will pick up and remove the old concrete or asphalt at no cost to you, as they can resell the product to construction and paving companies for reuse after they process it. Find out what your options are to dispose of the concrete and asphalt instead of hauling it to the city landfill and paying to dispose the materials that still have value and use.

You can get a dumpster rental from a local waste management company that can be filled with concrete or asphalt only, as local garbage collection company can make sure it is recycled. Be sure you don't fill your rented dumpster with any other materials, as this can affect the ability of the paving to be recycled or an increase of your rental fees for the dumpster.

Old concrete can be crushed into a concrete aggregate and sold to construction companies or reused in new concrete mixtures to form new paved surfaces. Your old asphalt can similarly be recycled as reclaimed asphalt paving after it has been crushed, sorted, and added to a new asphalt hot mixture. In fact, up to 30 percent or more of new hot mix asphalt can be made of recycled asphalt. This saves the paving companies anywhere from $30 to $80 per ton by using recycled pavement.

Use these tips to help remove and dispose of your old asphalt and concrete paving.

Share