Photo Gallery: Paving Castro Valley Boulevard

Avoid Castro Valley Boulevard today.

The work crews who paved the boulevard's two eastbound lanes on Tuesday will work their molten magic on the westbound lanes today.

Paving supervisor Les McWilliams identified the main steps in the process. Scan the photo gallery to see how the job gets done.

But here are a few facts by way of overview.

The pavers are resurfacing a 2,200-foot-long stretch from Redwood Road to San Miguel.

Tuesday they did a 60-foot wide swath that covered the boulevard's eastbound lanes.

They poured a layer of asphalt two-inches thick.

To cover that cubic surface required about 100 loads from dump trucks that carry 20-tons per load.

McWilliams said the asphalt comes from Vulcan Materials in Livermore.

It's made from three constituent elements: gravel, sand and oil. These three elements are mixed together and heated to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Click through the pictures to learn more about the paving process -- without getting sticky feet.

When pavers pull their heavy equipment off the road, a huge hurdle in the 16-month-long Streetscape project will have been finished, leaving about 6-weeks of loose ends to be completed.

Officials say it will take another six wee