Cold Lay Tarmac

[john4703]

On Tuesday a contractor replaced a drain and put some sort of cold lay tarmac next to it. He used a wacker to compact it.
It has now been in place for three days (72 hours) and is still soft. I can push it down with my fingers.
Has it been badly laid is it this damp weather preventing it going hard (I asked the contractor who is blaming the weather)

 

[^woody^]

This can literally take weeks to go hard.

 

[john4703]

This can literally take weeks to go hard.

Thanks, I was worried that they had done sommething wrong.

 

[StephenOak]

I used cold-lay tarmac (and a rammer) to fill in some gaps in my front yard. I didn't check it that much but after a couple of days it seemed unchanged from when I had laid it.

The stuff is a mix of stones and 'tar' and it can be made to fit the hole because tar enables the mix to spread. The tar itself is a mix of organic chemicals and gradually the more volatile parts will evaporate, leaving behind the heaviest components that stick it all together.

However even the most volatile parts are not that volatile, otherwise they would evaporate when the bag was in storage. Hence it takes a long time for the final set to be achieved.