Asphalt and Paving Estimating Services

What Moves the Number on Asphalt & Paving

Section thickness, which is not on the site plan. The pavement section comes from the geotechnical report and the pavement design, not from the paving plan. An estimate built on an assumed section is wrong by the ratio of assumed to actual thickness across the entire paved area, which makes it the single largest error available in this trade. Where the section is not established we say so explicitly rather than assuming a standard one.

Area to tonnage conversion. Asphalt is bought by weight and drawn as an area, and the conversion depends on compacted thickness and on the density of the specified mix. Different mixes have different densities, and applying one factor across all of them introduces an error that scales with the job.

Subgrade condition. What is under the pavement decides more of the cost than the pavement does on a poor site. Undercut and replacement of unsuitable material, moisture conditioning, geotextile separation and geogrid reinforcement are all geotechnical answers, and on weak or wet subgrade they can exceed the asphalt entirely.

Multiple section types on one plan. Parking stalls, drive aisles, truck routes and fire lanes commonly carry different sections on the same site plan. Measuring one total area and applying an average section is wrong on the light-duty areas and wrong on the heavy-duty ones, and the heavy-duty error is the expensive direction.

Concrete work around the asphalt. Curb and gutter, sidewalks, pads, islands, aprons and accessible ramps are a separate trade operation with their own forming, reinforcement, jointing and finishing. On a site with a lot of curb and island work, the concrete can rival the asphalt, and lumping the two together hides it.

Phasing on an operating site. Repaving a site that has to stay open means working in sections, temporary surfacing, traffic control, access maintenance and night or weekend work. The mobilisations multiply, the productivity per mobilisation falls, and both belong in the estimate rather than in a hopeful duration.

Quantity and mobilisation efficiency. Paving is a production trade with meaningful mobilisation cost. A small area, a site split into disconnected pieces, or a schedule that requires the paver to return several times all raise the unit cost substantially over a single large continuous pour. Quantity alone does not predict the price.

How It Works

1. 1 Send your plans — PDF, DWG, DOC, images or ZIP, up to 100MB per file.
2. 2 Get your quote — a flat price for the scope with a delivery date, confirmed in writing.
3. 3 Approve — nothing starts until you confirm.
4. 4 We take it off — quantities from the drawings and schedules.
5. 5 Delivery — workbook, marked-up set, assumptions schedule.

Tools and Standards

Takeoffs are produced in Bluebeam, PlanSwift, Trimble, STACK, organized against CSI MasterFormat divisions — this scope is specified under Division 32 — Exterior Improvements (32 12 00 Flexible Paving, 32 13 00 Rigid Paving).

Quantities and assemblies are read against the published standards that govern this trade, because the standard is what decides whether two apparently identical items are actually the same line item:

• Asphalt Institute MS-2 — mix design methods
• Superpave / AASHTO M 323 — Superpave volumetric mix design
• ASTM D6926 / D6927 — Marshall specimen preparation and stability testing
• AASHTO pavement design procedures, and the applicable state DOT standard specifications where the project follows them
• ACI 330 — guide for the design and construction of concrete parking lots
• MUTCD — pavement marking and signage requirements
• ADA Standards for Accessible Design — accessible routes, ramps, slopes and detectable warnings

Pricing is built on RSMeans cost data localized to your project's market, then reconciled against current supplier quotes and our own completed project costs. Every estimate states its pricing basis and the date it was priced.

Why Asphalt & Paving Is Estimated Wrong

Section thickness assumed rather than read. The most consequential error in paving. Section thickness lives in the geotechnical report and the pavement design detail, not on the site plan, and assuming a standard section is wrong by a fixed proportion across every square yard on the job. It is also invisible in the estimate, because the area is right.

One average section across mixed duty areas. Stalls, aisles, truck routes and fire lanes commonly have different sections. Averaging them understates the heavy-duty areas and overstates the light, and because the heavy-duty areas usually carry the traffic, the understatement is the one that shows up as a claim.

Subgrade and undercut left out. Proof rolling, recompaction, moisture conditioning and undercut of unsuitable material are separate items driven by the geotechnical report. On a wet or weak site they can exceed the asphalt, and an estimate that starts at the base course has skipped the expensive part.

Concrete work absorbed into the paving rate. Curb, gutter, sidewalk, islands, pads and ramps are a different operation with different crews, forming and finishing. Rolling them into a square yard paving rate systematically understates a site with a lot of curb and island work, which is most commercial sites.

Accessible ramps and detectable warnings not counted. Curb ramps with detectable warning surfaces are code-driven assemblies with specific slope, landing and surface requirements, and they cost far more per unit than the sidewalk around them. Counted individually they are predictable; absorbed into sidewalk area they disappear.

Tack coat and prime coat omitted. Small, specified, required between lifts and at the base interface, and routinely left out of estimates entirely. Individually minor, but it is a specified item and its absence signals that the section was not read closely.

Frequently Asked Questions