Asphalt Paving Contractor in Folkston, GA

Why do driveways in Folkston stay wet?

The NRCS soil survey maps much of Folkston as Ridgewood and Hurricane sands. Both are rated somewhat poorly drained. In most years, their water table sits about two to three feet down for a few months.

The lower flatwoods around town are mapped as Leon and Pottsburg sands, rated poorly drained. Most years, their water table rises within about a foot of the surface for a month or more. The creek bottoms are mapped as frequently flooded.

Rain keeps that sand wet. NOAA's 30-year normal for a station nine miles southwest of town is about 53 inches a year. Close to 22 inches of it falls from June through August. So we grade and crown a Folkston drive before any surface goes down.

Driveways for Folkston homes and mobile homes

By 1910, Folkston had taken over from Traders Hill as the Charlton County seat. The railroads that circled the swamp helped build the town. Across the county, Census estimates date the typical home to 1987. Nearly half went up between 1980 and 1999.

By Census estimates, close to four in ten homes countywide are mobile homes. Inside Folkston, it is about three in ten. A mobile home lot often needs a parking pad and a short drive. We lay recycled asphalt parking pads, and our trucks deliver gravel and crusher run for new drives.

The county is still adding homes. Permit offices in Charlton County approved 32 to 45 new single-family homes a year from 2021 through 2025. Older drives wear out too, and many can be topped instead of torn out. We grade out the dips, then lay recycled asphalt millings over the old surface.

Long drives and farm lanes in Charlton County

The 2022 farm census counted 85 farms in Charlton County, on about 19,400 acres. About two-thirds of that farmland is woods. Pasture and hay fields cover part of the rest. A lane out to the woods or the pasture has to carry heavy trucks in wet weather.

We build farm lanes and private roads up in layers on a graded base. Then we top them with recycled asphalt or chip seal. A long drive back to a house set off the road gets the same layered build.

A long rural drive often starts at a county road. Charlton County's Road Department grades the county's dirt roads and repairs washouts on county roads. By county code, the county installs all driveway drainage pipes, and the landowner pays a set charge.

Who issues driveway permits in Folkston?

Inside the city limits, Folkston's Land Development Code calls for a driveway permit first. The permit for a new or rebuilt curb cut or driveway on a city street goes through the City Engineer. For a drive onto a state route, like US-301 or GA-40, GDOT's permit comes before any work. Outside the city, Charlton County's permitting office handles building and land disturbance permits.

Where a drive crosses the public right of way, the city code calls for concrete or asphalt. Asphalt there has to meet the design of the street it joins. We pave hot mix aprons, and a concrete apron goes to a concrete contractor.

The code also counts driveways as impervious cover, the hard surfaces rain cannot soak into. In the single-family districts, impervious cover is capped at 30 percent of the lot. The city answers what your lot needs, and we point you there.

For a church or shop lot that needs more than 10 parking spaces, the code calls for landscaped islands. We pave small church and business parking lots once the site plan is set. Before any machine grading, a Georgia 811 locate request goes in at least three business days ahead.