Asphalt Millings vs. New Asphalt for a Driveway: When Each Makes Sense, From Alec's Asphalt Paving in Little Rock

Dump a load of asphalt millings in a driveway and what you see is dark gravel: crushed pieces, black at the edges, loose underfoot. Nothing about day one says pavement. What matters is what that pile becomes once it is spread and packed, and whether new hot mix is the better buy.

Asphalt millings are old pavement, ground up and reused, and a driveway made of them behaves more like bound gravel than like new asphalt. For a long, low-traffic lane they can make sense. For a smooth, sealed driveway meant to last, new hot mix is the better buy. Alec's Asphalt Paving, a family-owned Little Rock company started in 2015, handles asphalt paving and installation. Ask whether millings fit your job.

Close view of the aggregate in a worn asphalt surface, Little Rock asphalt paving

What are asphalt millings, exactly?

The Federal Highway Administration defines reclaimed asphalt pavement, or RAP, as "removed and/or reprocessed pavement materials containing asphalt and aggregates." Milling is one way the old surface comes out: "Milling entails removal of the pavement surface using a milling machine." Once crushed and screened, FHWA says, it "consists of high-quality, well-graded aggregates coated by asphalt cement."

The National Asphalt Pavement Association describes the same material as aggregate plus previously refined asphalt binder. It says new asphalt mixtures typically contain 10 to 30 percent of it. So a load of millings is the stuff that normally goes back into hot mix, sold loose instead.

How do millings pack down?

Millings hold together through compaction and whatever sits under them. They are not a bound pavement the way a rolled hot mix surface is.

The closest tested evidence is a Minnesota DOT research project, Report 2019-11, "Optimal RAP Content for Minnesota Gravel Roads." Researchers blended RAP with aggregate for gravel road surfaces. They found mixtures with 70 percent RAP "can reduce dust generation" and, after a year, "can match all-aggregate gravel road performance in terms of strength," with a smoother ride. They also note that test results "did not align perfectly" and field results were "somewhat uneven."

The researchers suggest 70 percent RAP in a roughly 2-inch surface course may be effective, and they call for a longer three-year study rather than a final answer.

That study covers gravel roads, not driveways, so do not borrow its depth for yours. It still shows the character of the surface: gravel-like, helped by its leftover asphalt, and dependent on the site. Ask any bidder what depth goes down and how it is rolled.

When do millings make sense?

A reasonable fit is a long lane to a barn or back lot. Another is a parking pad where a rougher finish does not matter. A gravel drive that sheds dust and stones into the yard is a third. Millings suit places where the choice is between loose gravel and something firmer, not between millings and a smooth black drive.

When is new hot mix the better buy?

New hot mix wins where the surface gets used hard or looked at daily. A dolly, a bicycle, a basketball goal at the end of the drive, and a wheelchair all want a smooth, even surface. Edges stay clean. Asphalt also has a maintenance path. General industry knowledge puts its life at roughly 15 to 20 years with routine crack repair and periodic sealcoating. Crack filling and sealcoating are both services Alec's Asphalt Paving offers.

Thickness is the other reason. Hot mix thickness can be written in inches, compacted, and checked against another bid. At Alec's Asphalt Paving, compacted thickness is worked out per job, and the written quote states it. That figure decides whether a surface lasts fifteen years or three.

What does new hot mix cost?

Typical Arkansas ranges run about $5 to $15 per square foot for a new asphalt driveway. An overlay or resurfacing runs $3 to $9 where the base is sound. An overlay is not a rebuild: it will not fix drainage failure or base movement. These are market ranges, not Alec's price list, and the final number depends on the job. Ask a millings bidder for a written price and a written depth, so the two bids compare.

What should I ask any bidder, millings or hot mix?

  1. What compacted depth, in inches, goes down?
  2. What is under it: base, compaction, and drainage?
  3. How is it rolled, and how are the edges finished?
  4. Is all of this written in the quote?

Alec's Asphalt Paving gives free written estimates and makes no decision on the doorstep, so comparing bids is expected.

Questions people ask

Are millings the same as recycled asphalt? Yes. The FHWA term is reclaimed asphalt pavement, and millings are one source of it.

Does Alec's Asphalt Paving offer millings? Ask when you call. The business is at 1501 Westpark Dr #68, Little Rock, AR 72204, phone (501) 506-6799, and it works in every town in Arkansas.

About Alec's Asphalt Paving

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