Asphalt Paving in Rapid City, SD

Asphalt paving in Rapid City is a fight against freeze and thaw. The city sits at about 3,356 feet on the eastern slope of the Black Hills, averages 48.5 inches of snow and 17.44 inches of precipitation a year, and typically sees its first freeze around October 4. Then come the chinooks: warm downslope winds push the temperature above 50 degrees about 20 times between December and February. Every time snow melts on a warm afternoon and refreezes overnight, water in cracks expands and pries them wider. A driveway that would see a handful of freeze cycles in a steady climate sees dozens here.

What that means for your driveway

The pavement that holds up best has three things: a firm, compacted base that stays dry, a surface that sheds water fast, and cracks that are sealed before winter. Miss any one of them and freeze-thaw finds it. On every estimate we look below the surface first. HomeGuide's cost guide gives a typical residential section as 2 to 3 inches of compacted asphalt over 6 to 8 inches of compacted gravel, and 3 to 4 inches over 8 to 10 inches for heavier vehicles. Your quote states both numbers.

Shale, clay and hillsides

Rapid City is split by the Dakota Hogback, and neighborhoods climb onto ridges and slopes on both sides. Much of the ground is shale and clay. In 2015 the city council considered requiring soil testing at every new home site because expansive soils shrink and swell between wet and dry spells, and soil testing was already required for commercial buildings. For pavement, that movement shows up as heaving, long cracks near lawns and edges that drop. We dig out soft or wet subgrade, replace it with compacted base and grade the surface to move water away.

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Driveway approaches in Rapid City

The city's right-of-way guide says a permit is required to build or alter any street, sidewalk, curb and gutter or driveway approach, and that a building permit does not cover work in the right-of-way. It sets residential approach openings at 12 to 30 feet and commercial ones at 16 to 28 feet, not counting tapers, and limits corner lots to one approach on the less-traveled street. If your driveway ends at the existing approach, none of that applies. If you want it widened or moved, we tell you what the process involves before work is scheduled.

County roads

Outside city limits, the county usually controls the approach. Pennington County charges $250 to apply for an approach permit on a county road and requires a $2,500 surety deposit, refunded after final inspection. Meade County's approach permit is $125, asks for a sketch and drainage plan, and is issued after the approach is built and inspected. Approaches onto state highways go through the SDDOT area office. We check which applies to your property.

A word on $99 specials

Searches for asphalt paving in Rapid City turn up related searches for $99 paving specials. Offers like that often come from crews with leftover asphalt and no local address, and the job is usually a thin layer on unprepared ground. A real quote describes the base, the thickness and the drainage in writing, and it comes from someone you can call back next spring.

What a driveway job includes

• Measuring, checking slope and finding where water goes
• Removing old asphalt, concrete or gravel
• Digging out soft subgrade and replacing it with compacted base
• Grading the base so water leaves the pavement
• Placing and rolling hot-mix asphalt to the quoted thickness
• Finishing edges and joints at the garage and approach
• Written guidance on curing and the first sealcoat

We work throughout Rapid City and the surrounding Black Hills communities: Box Elder, Rapid Valley, Black Hawk, Summerset, Piedmont, Sturgis, Whitewood, Spearfish, Belle Fourche, Deadwood, Lead, Hill City, Keystone, Hermosa, Custer, Hot Springs and New Underwood. Conditions change fast from one to the next. Lead averages more than 180 inches of snow a year while Hot Springs gets about 31. Piedmont and Black Hawk sit in the Red Valley's shale and gypsum, the Northern Hills towns are steep, and the prairie towns east of the city are flat and windy. Approach permits come from different agencies too: the City of Rapid City, Pennington County, Meade County, Lawrence County or SDDOT, depending on where you are. Each town page covers the local details.