Tarmac v sma driveway

[Delboy1999]

Hi guys,

I need some advice with a drive way that i want laid. The more quotes from contractors and advice from family/friends the more confused I get.

The area is approx 620sq metres. Like everybody I want to pay a reasonable price but I want to ensure I get a good job.

First area of confusion. Machine or hand laid.
I am told that machine laid is the best job but all the contractors lay tarmacadam by hand and they say it is a better job because it wont leave a thin line in the various sections of the driveway (It is a y shaped drive - back, gable end, front and driveway out to the road).

Second area of confusion. Tarmac or SMA
The contractors have all quoted for tarmac and some had never heard of SMA. The qoutes vary from 10mm dense wearing course 50mm depth to 2 inches of tarmacadam (is that the same thing??)

A friend told me to go for 10mm SMA machine laid as it is the best job.

I think my driveway is currently made up of 804 crushed stone. I am pretty sure a good lot of stone was put in to the driveway when I was building our house. But there are a lot of weeds in the driveway and I plan to give it a good dose of round up.

The quotes for tarmac range from €4850-8700ex vat (that includes prepare ground, lay tarmac and provide drainage where necessary). And I am told to expect to pay in the region of €7500+(ex vat) for the SMA.

In summary
should i go tarmac or SMA? and what is the best thickness to get?
and after making that decision what is the best method of laying the drive?
What base should go in and will the round up and the base be sufficent to prevent the weeds growing back up through the finished job?

And finally as a general discussion what do ye think of the quotes?

Thanks in advance

[GB_Groundworks]

the asphalt lads will be along shortly but my 2 pence

machine lay is always better, on a job big enough to allow it

any of them that have not heard of sma forget and sma is more hard wearing

see subbases section on the main site it all there and i'd read the asphalt section while you are at it.

[bobbi o]

For a driveway i dont think you'd get any extra benefits of laying sma,as its designed for heavy traffic apps. in reality its dense tarmac with more bitumen and sometimes fibres added and 15% more expensive. every plant produces a different recipe,unless you know what your looking at you'll not tell the difference.

a decent driveway spec on a sound sub-base would be 50mm base coat, 30mm wearing.

620 sq.m@ 50mm thick =88 ton =£6200
620 sq.m@ 30mm thick =51 ton=£3500
paver,labour,machinery etc-£3500

620 sq.m @ £21.20 per sq.m , Sum-£13144 + vat
no allowance made for preparatory works.

bobbi's prices - cheap as chips, gie'us'a job guvnor.

you sound like you might live in ireland-i'd go for the guy who'll do it for 4850 euros,just make sure he doesnt lay it with a trowel,roll it with a garden roller and deliver it by horse.

[Delboy1999]

Hi again,

Still in two minds between SMA and ordinary tarmac.

One contractor says there is poor levels on the drive way ie. not all kerbs going towards the front gate and therefore should go for SMA as it has better soakage.

Just waiting for him to come back with a price but he says it is alot more expensive than normal tarmac.

Is it worth going with SMA? does it last longer maintain colour better?

[Big Phil]

imo, if your drive is gonna experience a high degree of turning then go for sma. not sure where the 'better soakage' comes from, as sma isn't porous (porous asphalt is porous). it's a misconception with the 'boney' structure of sma, and a good sma will be designed to have low air voids. the surface voids from the negative texture aren't inter-linked and water will run off quicker on a dbm surface course.

sma's are more expensive as there's about 1% more bitumen than their dbm equivalent. the extra bitumen gives an enhanced durability and will probably retain it's colour a little longer than dbm. give it 12 months and they all look grey anyways.

if it was my money, i'd go for dbm if it was straight-on-straight-off, and sma if any turning involved.

hope this helps