TAR & CHIP DRIVEWAY PAVING OVER GRAVEL IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA

When a gravel driveway has a sufficiently deep, solid, and well-compacted base, it can form an excellent foundation for a tar & chip surface.

Unlike many paving systems that rely entirely on a separate surface layer, tar & chip works particularly well over gravel because of how the asphalt binder interacts with the base. During installation, hot CRS-2 liquid asphalt binder is spray-applied directly onto the gravel. The binder penetrates and soaks into the gravel base, locking it together, hardening the surface, and waterproofing it. In doing so, the gravel base is no longer just a support layer—it becomes part of the pavement structure itself.

Stone is then applied over the hot binder (typically a washed chip stone) and compacted. Much of the stone becomes embedded into the asphalt binder, forming the finished tar & chip pavement surface, while a thin layer of loose stone remains across the surface to protect the pavement as it sets and cures.

Because the gravel base is strengthened and sealed from within, and the asphalt binder is protected beneath the stone surface, tar & chip paving over gravel creates a durable, clean paved driveway surface.

For large driveways, tar & chip paving is often a better choice than asphalt due to its lower overall cost, its maintenance-free nature and the limited driveway closure time required, as it can be driven on immediately after installation.