Southern Asphalt Engineering (SAE) serves Miami-Dade and Broward counties in South Florida. We are the providers for every phase of building and installing parking lots and roadways, to ongoing asphalt maintenance. From asphalt paving and parking lot striping to concrete curbing and sidewalks, Southern Asphalt Engineering are the professionals that can help keep customers, visitors, and employees safe in your parking lot.
Commercial Asphalt Contractors
Keeping exterior parking areas safe and attractive are SAE priorities. Ignoring best practices and the building code leads to liabilities. In addition, accidents cause costly personal injury lawsuits. Preventing accidents is the goal made easy by professional asphalt engineers.
Unknown to many, every aspect of parking areas is not arbitrarily planned. Asphalt engineers must present blueprints to the local building authorities for approval. Every code requirement must be met in the blueprints. Safety requirements include speed bumps, exact stripping of parking spots, parking lot crosswalks, and more.
Asphalt Paving
Properly installed and maintained asphalt is the most economical paving material. Well-maintained parking lots add to property values. Eyesore lots devaluate property. More importantly, cracked and deteriorating areas cause trip hazards.
Parking lot sealcoating is highly recommended and, in some jurisdictions, is required to protect the asphalt against deterioration. Where cars and trucks park, there will be oxidation due to oil and fuel leaks, minor and large.
Speed Bumps and Humps
An asphalt speed bump slows anxious drivers and reminds good ones to be safe. Speed humps do the same; humps are manufactured speed controlling devices like bumps. The humps, while similar to asphalt bumps, are distinguished by striping and reflectors – adding night safety.
Traffic engineers at SAE must submit the placement of humps or bumps to local building departments. Traffic patterns are analyzed, and exact locations are determined.
Speed control is essential for a safe parking lot – deterring unsafe drivers and limiting liabilities. As a result, pedestrians and drivers are both safer.
Signage, Lighting, and Concrete Sidewalks
Pedestrians, especially at retail businesses, are at-risk as they navigate into the building – signs alert drivers to the presence of pedestrians. In addition, signs help control traffic flow, when to stop and look, and speed control.
Every lot and walkway needs adequate lighting at night. Sidewalks bordered by landscaping, buildings, or concrete curbing is a pedestrian safety zone. Engineers will study and design sidewalks based on pedestrian flow.
Parking Lot Striping
Striping maintains a safe traffic flow, provides pedestrians with crosswalks, creates no parking areas, and controls with traffic arrows. The most critical striping is to make parking lot crosswalks. The crosswalk allows safer pedestrian flows from parking areas to buildings. Parking spaces are allocated within the local building code.
ADA Compliance
ADA compliance is required and complex. The Act and regulations have changed due to regulators reinterpreting aspects of the Act and court decisions. SAE engineers are experts in designing to all compliance standards.
The ADA has many exacting details to protect and make access easier for people with disabilities. Compliance is required at commercial and residential locations. Parking spots need to be clearly designated with signs and stripes. Compliance requires the installation of asphalt or cement ramps for exiting vehicles and easy access to sidewalks.
Traffic Mirrors
Convex mirrors are required at specific locations. Convex mirrors increase the view of the reflected image. The most obvious spots are blind intersections and foot traffic areas intersecting with car traffic. Traffic mirrors are another tool to create a safe environment.
Steel Bollards
Steel bollards are used to block vehicles from pedestrians, walkways, transformers, and any object that needs protection. They are commonly made of large steel pipes placed in a deep post hole. Cement is placed in the post hole, and the pipe is filled with cement. They are caped in various ways.
Rather than just painting a steel bollard and placing reflective tape, there are custom plastic caped tubes for covering the bollards. These tubes are made with day bright colors and have reflective tape and reflectors. The advantage is that the tubes can be replaced as they wear out. Also, there are custom-made bollards.
The commercial asphalt contractors at SAE offer more:
- Project management from start to finish
- Turn-key solutions with design and engineering
- Customer-centered long-term maintenance
- Coordination with associations and property managers
- ADA compliance
- Designs for greater curb appeal
- Work started and finished on schedule
Southern Asphalt Engineering – Broward and Miami-Dade
Proudly serving South Florida, Southern Asphalt Engineering is a licensed and insured commercial asphalt contractor. Our specialty is complete asphalt installations of parking lots and roadways. For the long term, asphalt property maintenance services are available.
Installing parking lots and maintaining them is a long-term investment. Proper patching, parking lot sealcoating, and asphalt property management are essential to protect the investment. Always available for small to major projects, Southern Asphalt Engineering offers free estimates – a first step toward increasing property values.