There are a few things that come to mind when you think about Wisconsin — Cheese, Cows, the Packers — but one thing that any true Wisconsinites know about the state is how harsh its winters can be. With frigid temperatures, frequent freeze-thaw cycles and an ever-present potential for heavy snowfall, winter in Wisconsin can be harsh and unforgiving, wreaking havoc all across the state.
One area that often bears the brunt of these conditions is parking lots, which is precisely why it’s so important for businesses to have a concrete parking lot built to withstand Wisconsin winters. Properly designing such a parking lot will help business owners avoid excessive damage to their structure as well as the costly repairs often required to fix it. Today we’re going to walk you through some of the steps we take here at Potrykus Construction when designing parking lots, so you can see exactly what makes our lots so adept at withstanding our local winters.
What challenges arise from Wisconsin winters?
Before we dive into the key design elements we implement in our concrete parking lot builds, we wanted to take a minute to highlight some of the biggest challenges parking lots face throughout these Wisconsin winters. Perhaps the biggest detriment are those aforementioned freeze-thaw cycles.
This refers to those periods of time that see frequent freezing and thawing of water, such as when the temperature begins dropping below freezing but then climbing right back up the next day, only to drop again and so on. If there’s snow on the ground during these cycles, the water can infiltrate the various cracks and holes found in concrete only to freeze and expand again, repeating ad nauseum and causing structural deterioration over time.
We also mentioned heavy snowfall, which naturally leads to heavy plowing which can put a lot of physical stress on road surfaces and ultimately cause cracking or other wear and tear. This is especially true when forced to just plow all the snow into one corner of the parking lot. A third and final challenge we want to mention is the deicing chemicals frequently used to keep surfaces safe, such as road salt. While this is a must-have for sidewalks and parking lots, it can contribute to further wear and tear of your parking lot’s surface.
Key Design Elements for a Winter-Resistant Concrete Parking Lot
Now that you have a better idea of why your parking lot needs to be built to withstand the typical conditions of these local winters, it’s time to highlight the key design elements we implement to create our winter-resistant concrete parking lots.
- High-quality concrete mixtures
- Air-entrained concrete; small air pockets allow water to expand
- Low water-to-cement ratio; improves strength, reduces water absorption
- Pozzolanic additives; greatly enhance durability
- Reinforced construction with proper thickness
- Light-duty lots, for passenger vehicles, require 4-6”
- Heavy-duty lots, for trucks and commercial traffic, require 8”
- Steel rebar, fiber additives; improve tensile strength
- Proper sloping and drainage
- Strategic sloping; graded to direct water away from where vehicles drive, park
- Integrated drainage systems (storm drains, trench systems, etc.); prevent pooling, ice formation
- Permeable concrete; reduces stormwater runoff
- Expansion joints and crack control
- Strategically placed joints; allow concrete to flex without causing damage
- Polymeric sealants; prevent water infiltration, reduce deterioration from freezing
- Surface treatments and protective sealants
- Penetrating sealers; repel moisture, reduce freeze-thaw cycle stress
- Silicone-based coatings; protect from road salt damage
- Textured finishes; minimize ice-related hazards, enhance safety
If you’d like us to expand on any of this information, feel free to give us a call here at the office. We’d be happy to explain our process further, or to begin discussing your project. We look forward to helping you!