Hardstand for warehouses: concrete vs asphalt vs road base

By Brenscot Builders | Last reviewed September 2026

The warehouse gets the attention, but the hardstand decides whether the site works. Truck aprons, loading areas, container pads, trailer parking and circulation roads take the heaviest loads on the property, in the open, in every kind of weather. A hardstand that ruts, pumps mud or ponds water becomes a permanent maintenance problem and a poor first impression for tenants and buyers.

There are three broad options: concrete, asphalt (often called bitumen) and unsealed road base. Most good sites use a combination. This article explains where each belongs.

The short answer

Use concrete where trucks turn tightly, where loads are concentrated or stationary (loading docks, container pads, bin and wash areas), and where fuel or oil may spill. Use asphalt for large areas of general circulation and parking where traffic moves through. Treat unsealed road base as temporary or for low-use areas only. Whatever the surface, the pavement must be engineered for the actual vehicles and the ground beneath it.

What an engineered hardstand involves

A pavement is a layered structure, and the surface is only the top of it. A properly designed hardstand includes:

1. Subgrade assessment. The geotechnical investigation measures the strength of the natural ground, usually expressed as a CBR (California Bearing Ratio) value. Weak or wet subgrade needs treatment or a thicker pavement.
2. Design traffic. The engineer needs to know the vehicles: rigid trucks, semi-trailers, B-doubles, forklifts, container handlers. A loaded container forklift or reach stacker puts far more load on its front axle than a road-legal truck axle, and is outside the scope of normal road pavement design.
3. Pavement layers of compacted gravel (and sometimes cement-treated or lean-mix concrete subbase) sized to spread the load to the subgrade.
4. The surface: concrete or asphalt.
5. Falls and drainage. Every part of the surface must drain to a pit or channel and on to the site's lawful point of discharge (the approved place where stormwater is allowed to leave the site, such as the council drain), generally through the stormwater treatment system. See stormwater management.
6. Edges and joints, including kerbs, the junction with the building slab, and the council crossover.

The references engineers use include the Austroads Guide to Pavement Technology for flexible and road-type pavements, and Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia's guide T48 (Guide to Industrial Floors and Pavements) for concrete. Council standard drawings govern the crossover between the road and the property boundary.

Concrete

Where it belongs: loading docks and aprons, the area in front of roller doors, tight turning areas and gate throats, container and trailer stands, forklift operating areas, bin enclosures, wash bays and anywhere fuels, oils or chemicals may spill.

Advantages

• Rigid, so it spreads concentrated loads and does not deform under stationary or slow-moving heavy vehicles
• Resists the scrubbing action of multi-axle trailers turning tightly
• Not softened by fuel and oil
• Long life with little maintenance when designed and built properly
• Falls can be set accurately, and it presents well

Things to allow for

• Higher upfront cost than asphalt
• Joints must be designed, detailed and sealed. Joints are where concrete pavements most often fail
• Needs curing time before it can take traffic
• Concrete strength must suit the traffic. T48 sets minimum strengths for abrasion resistance, with higher grades for heavy or solid-tyred traffic

Asphalt

Where it belongs: larger areas of through-traffic such as circulation roads, car parks and general yard areas, and staged developments where the surface may be reworked later.

Advantages

• Lower upfront cost over large areas
• Fast to lay and can be trafficked soon after
• No movement joints to detail and seal
• Simple to patch and overlay

Things to allow for

• Asphalt is a flexible pavement bound with bitumen. It can rut or shove under slow, heavy, tightly turning vehicles, and can indent under stationary point loads such as trailer landing legs and container corner castings, particularly in hot weather
• Fuel and oil spills can soften the bitumen binder
• Its performance depends entirely on the gravel layers and drainage beneath it
• It needs periodic maintenance and eventual resurfacing, which should be allowed for in the building's long-term budget

A common approach is an asphalt yard with concrete pads where trailers stand and where trucks turn.

Unsealed road base (gravel)

Where it belongs: temporary construction access, interim use while a site is staged, and low-use storage areas where dust and mud are acceptable and the council approval allows it.

Advantages: lowest upfront cost, quick to build and reshape.

Things to allow for

• Ruts and softens in wet weather, and generates dust in dry weather
• Sediment washes into pits, pipes and stormwater treatment devices, which clogs them and can breach the site's environmental obligations
• Trucks track material onto the public road
• Presents poorly to tenants and buyers
• Planning schemes and approval conditions often require driveways, manoeuvring areas and car parks to be sealed. Check the scheme and your conditions before assuming gravel is permitted

For a new warehouse intended for lease, sale or long-term ownership, unsealed gravel is a staging measure, not a finished pavement.

Side by side

Getting it right on SEQ sites

• Start with the vehicles. The largest vehicle sets the turning areas, and the heaviest axle sets the pavement. See clear height, doors and truck access.
• Design the levels with the building and the stormwater. Hardstand falls, slab level, dock heights and the stormwater discharge point all depend on each other.
• Allow for containers if there is any chance of them. Container handling equipment needs a purpose-designed pavement.
• Build trafficable lids into the design. Stormwater tanks, treatment devices and service pits under the hardstand must be rated for the vehicles above them.
• Remember the crossover. The driveway between the kerb and the boundary is built to the council's standard and is normally covered by an operational works approval, which is a separate development permit. Where the frontage is a State-controlled road, approval from Transport and Main Roads is needed as well.
• Extending an existing hardstand can need approval too. Adding impervious area can trigger stormwater quality and quantity requirements and, where a development approval is needed, can affect infrastructure charges, which include a stormwater component based on impervious area. It is often overlooked until the design is well advanced.

Frequently asked questions

Is concrete or asphalt better for a truck hardstand?

Concrete is better where trucks turn tightly, stand or reverse to docks. Asphalt is economical for areas where traffic moves through. Most sites use both.

How thick should a concrete hardstand be?

There is no standard answer. Thickness, reinforcement and concrete strength are designed by an engineer for the specific vehicles and the ground conditions.

Can I use a gravel hardstand for an industrial yard?

Sometimes, for temporary or low-use areas, if the approval allows it. It brings dust, mud, sediment in stormwater and ongoing maintenance, and approvals often require sealed surfaces.

Does a hardstand need council approval?

The use is dealt with in the development approval, but the pavement, earthworks, drainage and crossover are civil works, and where the planning scheme makes them assessable they need an operational works approval, which is a separate development permit. Adding hardstand to an existing site can require approval too, because it adds impervious area and may involve earthworks and stormwater changes. Check with a town planner and civil engineer.

Why do asphalt hardstands fail?

Usually because the pavement beneath was not designed for the loads, water got into the base layers, or the surface was subjected to tight turning, stationary loads or fuel spills that asphalt does not handle well.

Sources

• Austroads, Guide to Pavement Technology Part 2: Pavement Structural Design, and Part 4B: Asphalt
• Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia, T48 Guide to Industrial Floors and Pavements
• Brisbane City Council standard drawings (vehicle crossings) and Transport, access, parking and servicing planning scheme policy
• State Planning Policy (July 2017), water quality state interest

General information only

This article is general information, current as at September 2026. It is not a pavement design or specification. Pavement type, thickness and materials must be designed by a suitably qualified engineer for your site and vehicles.

Planning an industrial warehouse?

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