If the job is to renew a street without turning the whole area upside down, start with the right kit and a better plan. The first move is simple. Use an asphalt milling machine to take only what you need and nothing more. Strip the worn surface to a set depth, keep the edges tidy, and leave the base sound. That one decision shapes everything that follows. It means less waste, fewer lorry trips, cleaner hand-offs, and a site that stays safe and workable.
Strip only what you need.
Good milling is measured in millimeters, not guesses. So, set a realistic depth, follow a straight line, and protect services. Water the drum, so dust stays down, and always make sure you’ve got a sweeper close so that fines don’t spread into drains or shopfronts.
We all know that these millings aren’t rubbish. They’re feedstock. Load them in consistent layers, so the pile doesn’t segregate, and try to keep them off bare soil so you don’t drag mud back into the mix.
It’s really good if you plan to reuse the material, but then you do need to put in some extra care. Cover it or turn it to avoid water pockets. And make sure you’re checking it before you repurpose. Trust me, a short test on grading and binder content tells you how much you can blend back without hurting your project.
Lay steady, not fast!
This is really where your crew wins or loses time. And time may be money, but good things do come to those who wait. A constant, slow crawl will put down a better mat than a burst of speed ever will.
Just make sure you plan the truck cycle so the hopper never runs dry and the mix stays hot. Keep transfers smooth and avoid dumping a cold heap into the mouth. If you do, it’ll definitely come up later as a soft spot, and who wants to see that? Not me!
Paving sets the tone.
Asphalt pavers aren’t here to do damage control and fight a bad setup. They are there to glide: warm, even material in and clean; in addition to leveling the base under the screed.
That’s how you get the surface flat without chasing it. All you need to do is keep the auger chamber full, so the head of material is constant, and keep close watch on the end gates. If you need to change the thickness, try to do it in a place that’s easy to roll and seal.
The secret is simple. Keep the machine doing one job well, and do not ask it to fix upstream mistakes.
Short shifts that finish strong.
You don’t need to squeeze everything into one schedule. Think efficiently and plan short, complete sections. Optimism is great and all, but don’t overdo it by opening more than you can close in the same shift.
Keep a small crew for follow-ons that tidy joints, reset covers and reinstate line marking. Trust me, a clean handover to the next morning is worth more than a few extra metres laid in the dark. It also protects your warranty because you’re not relying on luck to save a half-finished joint from traffic or rain.
Close the loop on heavy material.
The real issues lie where you can’t even see them. Sometimes the surface will be hiding lumps of concrete, rock, or oversized chunks in the base, and you won’t even notice. But leaving them in place is a major risk.
So, what do you do? Hauling them off-site also costs time and money, so it’s not an ideal choice. But a better answer is to process them on the spot so they become useful again, using an impact crusher. Feed it the oversized bits, and it’ll knock them down to a consistent size that you can later reuse as capping or send back to the plant as controlled feed. The process will strip out rebar, trim weak edges, and produce a cleaner, more uniform product. You also have fewer lorry trips, a smaller stockpile of waste, and a base that behaves the way you expect.
When you combine neat milling, steady paving, and on-site sizing with an impact crusher, the job stays tidy from tear-up to lay-down, and the road you hand back is one you do not have to visit again anytime soon, except as a user perhaps!
