Oxford School Playground Tarmac Repairs & Surfacing

The majority of UK roads are made of Tarmacadam/Asphalt, which consists of sand, gravel and stone in a tar or bitumen binder. This material is very hard wearing and can support great weights and fluctuations in temperature. Some roads may also be made of concrete.

Car park surfaces can be constructed on a number of materials depending on factors such as cost, durability, local regulations and drainage factors.

Choices include tarmacadam, concrete and shingle. We recommend tarmacadam car parks for most urban parking areas, as they provide the best combination of factors, plus allow easy line marking for parking bays.

Taramcadam is often referred to by its brand name of ‘Tarmac’ and is very common on UK roads. The binder in Tarmacadam is tar, whereas asphalt uses a bitumen binder. Both terms are often used interchangeably.

Top layers of roads generally need resurfacing or surface dressing every 10-15 years. Full road tarmac replacement is often only required after a number of decades.

Surface dressing is a maintenance and prevention treatment that helps prolong the life of the road surface. Surface dressing will re-seal and waterproof a road, whilst also increasing tyre grip to improve braking and overall safety.

Surface dressing must be carried out when the road is dry. The process is relatively quick, with busy sites taking less than a day to complete and quieter roads needing only 1 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the road.