How It’s Made: Asphalt

Rose Paving / August 13, 2013

At Rose Paving Company, we work with asphalt every day. But have you ever wondered how asphalt is made? It’s actually a fairly simple process and in a lot of ways it’s like a cake recipe. Asphalt is made of stones, sand, and gravel, which is all held together by asphalt cement. At plants all across America, sand and stones are obtained and then put on a conveyer belt that leads to an industrial asphalt mixer.

Once on the conveyer belt, the sand and stones are transferred to a drying chamber within the mixer. On the other end of the drying chamber there is a large flame that dries out all the sand and stone. Once the sand and stone are dried, the liquid asphalt cement is added. Once the mixing has concluded, the asphalt is dispensed from the end of the mixer. The asphalt is then distributed to its destination and ready to hit the road… literally.

Sources: www.asphaltfacts.com, www.pavegreen.com