Hot Mix Asphalt is an engineered mixture of stone and sand, "aggregate", coated in a petroleum tar, "asphalt cement". Different sizes and proportions of aggregate are specified for specific applications--highway, parking lot or residential. Similarly, there are different grades of asphalt cement suited for the moderate temperatures along the north edge of Lake Ontario, or cooler temperatures north of Highway #7, or "super highway cements" used on major highways.
The desired mixture of aggregate is heated to approximately 130 degrees Centigrade and then tumbled with liquified asphalt cement to create Hot Mix Asphalt. The Mix is then weighed into a dump truck and delivered to the job site, transferred to the paving machine and the mat laid on the previously prepared foundation of leveled and compacted crushed limestone.
