News Roads & Paving
Skyrocketing prices have asphalt and paving costs sizzling hot

Paving companies are feeling the pinch of astronomical diesel and asphalt prices, and English’s Paving – a Paradise-based company owned by Peter and Kim English – is certainly one of them.

The most critical ingredients in road building and driveway paving are petroleum-based products, so with oil consistently trading above US $100 per barrel in recent months, it’s not surprising that people like English have been hit hard by the trickle-down effects.

Last year – according to CBC News – he was paying about $95 for a tonne of hot mix asphalt, and as low as 84 cents for a litre of diesel to fuel his fleet of trucks and other heavy equipment.

Now he’s paying $150 for his asphalt, and as high as $2.64 for a litre of diesel at one point.

And those exorbitant prices are being felt during the tendering process for government infrastructure projects.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation and Works said some bids on road and bridge construction were 25 per cent higher than pre-tender estimates because of higher oil and steel costs.

(CBC News)