Asphalt Paving Data for Anderson, Indiana

Last reviewed 2026-07-25. Journalists, researchers, and community groups are welcome to cite any figure on this page with attribution and a link.

This page gathers the figures that shape asphalt work in and around Anderson, each taken from a public source listed at the bottom. The weather numbers come from NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals for the Anderson Sewage Plant station. The paving rules come from Indiana's highway specifications as summarized for local agencies, INDOT's driveway permit guide and the City of Anderson. The soil descriptions come from the USDA's official soil series.

These numbers do not price a job, and they do not replace a contractor's look at a specific site. They explain why the paving season runs when it does, why the base matters so much on local ground, what the mix names on an estimate mean, and which office controls the strip where a drive meets the road.

The paving season, month by month

Indiana's specifications set minimum air temperatures for placing hot-mix asphalt by the thickness of the layer: 60 degrees for layers under one inch, 45 degrees for one inch to under two, and 32 degrees for two inches or more, and never on a frozen subgrade. Set against Anderson's normals, the average daily high clears 60 degrees from April through October and clears 45 degrees from March through November. An average is not a forecast, so cool snaps at either end of the season still push thin work back.

NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station ANDERSON SEWAGE PLANT, IN (USC00120177). Temperature thresholds from INDOT Section 402.12 as summarized by the Asphalt Pavement Association of Indiana.

Winter: cold, snow and the freeze line

Winter is when asphalt takes its damage. In each month from December through March, the normal low sits below 32 degrees while the normal high sits above it, so water in cracks and in the base freezes at night and thaws by day through much of the season. The station's normals add up to 19.6 inches of snow and 41.44 inches of total precipitation in an average year, with January the coldest month at a normal low of 19.3 degrees.

Same NOAA station. Annual snowfall of 19.6 inches is the sum of the monthly normals, including 0.1 inch in October, 0.5 in November and 0.2 in April.

Soils under Anderson-area drives

The till plain around Anderson carries soils that hold water close to the surface for part of the year. The USDA's official series descriptions for three common central Indiana soils show how much that varies: from a perched water table two to three feet down in winter and spring on the better drained ground to water at or above the surface in low spots. That range is why a stone base that works on one lot can fail on the next one down the road.

USDA NRCS Official Series Descriptions, revised November 2021 for Miami and Brookston.

What the numbers in a mix name mean

Indiana's specifications name hot-mix asphalt by the nominal size of its largest stone, in millimeters. Surface mixes come in 4.75, 9.5 or 12.5 millimeter sizes, intermediate mixes in 9.5, 12.5, 19.0 or 25.0, and base mixes in 19.0 or 25.0. Each compacted layer must be at least twice and no more than four times the largest particle size, which sets a thickness range for every mix. The table converts those limits to inches.

Computed from the two-to-four-times rule in INDOT Section 402 as summarized by APAI; 25.4 mm to the inch, rounded.

Who controls the edge of the road

Three offices govern where a drive meets public pavement. The City of Anderson's Engineer's office requires a permit, a bond and insurance for any excavating in the right-of-way and for work to private drives and sidewalks inside it, and sends drainage questions to its Engineering or Storm Water Department. INDOT requires a permit before any access is built on state right-of-way, applied for through its Electronic Permit System, and a culvert of at least 15 inches under private drives and field entrances unless it approves otherwise. The Madison County Highway Department maintains about 870 miles of roadway and 220 bridges.

Beneath all three sits Indiana's 811 law. Anyone who excavates, homeowners included, must give notice at least two full working days and no more than ten calendar days ahead, and a locate expires 20 days after the notice is received. Hand-tool digging on one's own property to 12 inches is exempt.

Sources & Methodology

Every figure above was taken from the primary sources below (accessed 2026-07-25). Where a number is derived (arithmetic on published figures) or covers a broader period or area, the text says so.

1. NOAA NCEI, 1991-2020 monthly normals, Anderson Sewage Plant, IN (USC00120177) — Monthly normal highs, lows, precipitation and snowfall; annual totals summed from the months.
2. Asphalt Pavement Association of Indiana, local agency guide to INDOT specifications — Section 402.12 placement temperatures, mix sizes and the two-to-four-times layer rule.
3. INDOT, Driveway Permit Guide (April 2024) — Permit requirement, access types, Electronic Permit System and the 15-inch culvert minimum.
4. City of Anderson, City Engineer's Office, Permitting — Right-of-way permit, bond and insurance rule; drainage and state highway referrals.
5. Madison County, Indiana, Highway Department — About 870 miles of roadway and 220 bridges.
6. USDA NRCS, Official Series Description, MIAMI series
7. USDA NRCS, Official Series Description, CROSBY series
8. USDA NRCS, Official Series Description, BROOKSTON series
9. Indiana 811, Indiana dig law summary — Notice window, who the law covers, the hand-tool exemption and the 20-day locate life.