Asphalt Paving in Blue Springs, MO

Asphalt Paving in Blue Springs is heavily shaped by one decade. The city had 6,779 people in 1970 and 25,936 by 1980, according to census counts on Wikipedia, and kept growing to 58,603 in 2020. Neighborhoods built during that surge have driveways that have been through decades of Missouri winters. Some have already been replaced once; others are still the original surface with layers of patches on top.

Starting over with a sound base

On older drives in Blue Springs, the asphalt is rarely the only problem. Over time, fine soil works up into the gravel base, roots push under the edges and repeated freeze-thaw loosens everything. When we replace a driveway here, we: 1. Remove the old asphalt and any base that has turned to mud. 2. Check the subgrade for soft or wet areas and dig them out. 3. Install and compact new aggregate base in lifts. 4. Pave, roll and finish the edges so they are supported. Skipping step two is the most common reason a new drive starts cracking again within a few years.

A town named for its springs

As early as 1825, travelers used a spring flowing from a hillside into a tributary of the Little Blue River, and freighters called it Blue Springs. Hillside water is still worth thinking about. When a driveway stays damp along one edge, grows moss in a seam or heaves every winter in the same spot, groundwater or surface runoff is often feeding the subgrade. The USDA describes regional loess soils like the Sharpsburg series as having a saturated zone at 1.2 to 1.8 meters in wet periods and 33 to 42 percent clay in the upper subsoil. We look for the water source and deal with it, by regrading, adding edge drainage or raising the base, before we pave.

Family-size driveways

Blue Springs households average 2.61 people, compared with 2.26 in Kansas City proper, and owner-occupancy is 68.9 percent. That points to a lot of multi-car families. Common requests here include widening a single-car drive, adding a side pad for a trailer or boat, and replacing the cracked turnaround where cars swing out of the garage.

Near the lakes and the interstate

Fleming Park, which includes Blue Springs Lake and Lake Jacomo, covers 7,809 acres near the city, and Interstate 70 runs through Blue Springs toward Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis. Along that corridor there are restaurants, shops, offices and service businesses with parking lots that see steady traffic. We resurface and patch those lots, sealcoat them, and restripe them with accessible spaces laid out under the 2010 ADA Standards.

Maintenance between replacements

If your drive is in decent shape, keep it that way:

• Have cracks sealed every fall before the freeze season, which in this region averages from October 31 to April 4.
• Sealcoat on a regular cycle so the surface does not oxidize and shed stone.
• Repair potholes promptly; once water reaches the base, damage spreads quickly.

Services available in Blue Springs

Driveway replacement and widening, new parking pads, overlays, crack sealing, sealcoating, pothole and edge repair, parking lot paving and line striping. Call (816) 307-2608 to set up a free walk-through and written quote.

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