Industrial paving projects, for obvious reasons, tend to involve a significantly greater challenge than does a typical residential paving job. Not only is the sheer area being covered, in many cases, far larger than that found in most residential jobs, but often the job involves intricacies of space, shape, terrain and level that an average residential paving job would not entail. However, there are often other added challenges involved in an industrial paving project that must be accounted for during the project’s planning stages as well.

One of the most significant concerns a paver will have regarding an industrial paving job will be the amount of traffic the job will sustain — or more accurately, making sure the job is durable enough to withstand that amount of traffic. Although the raw number of vehicles traveling on the paving job is certainly a significant factor, the paver must also factor in the average weight of each vehicle — obviously, a semi truck is far harder on a paving job than a compact car.

Additionally, the generally larger surface area involved in an industrial paving area can lead to complications with water runoff and collection. The water that can gather on a large paved area during a heavy rainstorm can cause significant erosion and related damage if it is not properly channeled or otherwise dealt with. Some options that a paver must consider include grading management, which adjusts the way the water is collected and channeled to ensure that it runs in a direction where it will do no harm; drainage management, wherein the water is collected and removed via a preinstalled system of drains and pipes; and the use of permeable paving materials. Unique types of concrete and asphalt are available that actually permit water to filter through them into the ground below, instead of simply pulling and running off. In many cases, some combination of these three strategies will be required.