In Portsmouth, Tarmac & Asphalt is built around reclaimed, low-lying ground across Portsea Island, varying street by street: hot-rolled asphalt compacted over a prepared sub-base into a single dense, flat surface. Portsmouth’s own driveways are shaped by very high on-street parking pressure typical of an island city, making dropped-kerb front-garden conversions the most common job, and the flood-risk and drainage consideration that comes with Portsea Island’s reclaimed, low-lying ground. That makes it a strong fit for larger driveways that can achieve a proper fall to a drainage point — worth knowing that standard tarmac is impermeable, so the drainage fall has to be built in at construction.
About Tarmac & Asphalt
Tarmac and asphalt driveways are formed from hot-rolled bitumen-bound aggregate, laid in one or two courses over a compacted stone sub-base and rolled while still hot to bond into a single dense, flat surface. It is quick to lay across a large area compared with unit-by-unit systems, copes well with sustained vehicle weight, and gives a classic, understated dark finish that suits both period and modern properties without competing with the architecture. Standard tarmac is not permeable, so correct falls and edge drainage need to be built in at construction rather than added afterward, and a sound, well-compacted sub-base is what actually determines how long the surface lasts rather than the tarmac layer alone.
Best suited to: larger driveways, properties wanting a low-fuss uniform finish, and sites that can achieve proper falls to a drainage point
Less suited to: sites with no viable drainage fall or where a permeable/SuDS-compliant surface is specifically wanted
Ground & property in Portsmouth
Portsmouth itself is built almost entirely on the reclaimed, low-lying ground of Portsea Island, and the mix of dense Victorian terrace streets near the historic naval dockyard with post-war rebuild and later infill elsewhere means driveway jobs vary block by block. On-street parking pressure is about as high as anywhere in the catchment, so a dropped kerb and front-garden conversion is by far the most common enquiry, and the island’s low elevation means surface-water handling is worth checking on almost any job.
Coastal / flood note: the flood-risk and drainage consideration that comes with Portsea Island’s reclaimed, low-lying ground