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Commercial Concrete dfw

Most city codes require parking lot fire lanes to be six to seven inches thick to be able to withstand the weight of fire trucks and trash trucks which can weigh upwards of 50 thousand pounds. Trash trucks unloaded start at about 35 thousand pounds of weight.  Usually engineers will also specify a base of compacted dirt, lime, or crushed concrete.  Most city codes also require foundations beneath trash dumpster areas again to support the additional weight of the trash truck lifting the dumpster.  

 

All parking lots located within city limits must be permitted and have a site plan submitted to the city.  Four inch concrete is only rated for a maximum of about 7 to 8 thousand pounds or in other words a ford f350 size vehicle and this is why city code dictates six or seven inch thick concrete for fire lanes and 5 inches usually for parking spaces in most areas.

To give you an idea of how long the process takes usually a 40,000 square foot parking lot will take roughly four weeks to make after all the permits are approved.  A 100,000 square foot parking lot will take about 10 weeks after all permits are approved.  Both these times are of course without weather delays and after all site excavation is complete.  Sometimes they can be completed faster or slower depending on the complexity of the parking lot and the excavation needed.  Weather delays like rain can easily double the time it takes to completion.

Islands, curbs, approaches, light poles, signs, and trash dumpster foundations all add to the complexity of the project and therefore time and costs.

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