Seneca Petroleum is a family owned business that has been serving the motoring public since it's incorporation in 1922. We began as a broker for gasoline and fuel oils in the Chicago area and by the late 1920's and early 30's, expanded our presence in the industry through the purchase and operation of four filling stations around northern Illinois.

By the late 1930's, we had begun providing road oils to state and local municipalities to help them provide better roads for the rapidly expanding highway network in the Midwest.

Changing Our Direction

Seneca Petroleum entered the highway construction market with the purchase of a Hot Mix Asphalt plant in the early 1940's; at one time operating a total of six HMA plants. By 1999, our company focus changed and we had divested ourselves of the hot mix facilities in order to concentrate on being the highest quality liquid asphalt supplier in the Midwest.

To continue in our quest to become a full service supplier of liquid asphalt materials, we opened our Michigan City, Indiana emulsion plant in 1945. Presently, we continue to serve state, county and local municipalities in three states from this facility.

In the late 1950's, an additional emulsion plant, located in Chicago, Illinois, was opened for operation. This plant supplied our customers for over 20 years until the product line moved to Lemont, Illinois.

In 1948, we opened our Lemont, Illinois terminal from which we were able to begin serving the liquid asphalt needs of contractors in northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, northern Indiana and southwest Michigan. As we saw the need for a presence in northwest Ohio, we opened our Toledo, Ohio facility in 1962.

New Products

As Seneca Petroleum continued to look for ways to increase our presence in the liquid asphalt and construction industry, we opened our Crestwood, Illinois facility in 1974. From this location we supply the midwest commercial building industry with bulk and packaged roofing products.

In 1991, we had the opportunity to expand into another segment of the construction industry through the purchase of Powley Sand and Gravel in Spring Bay, Illinois. From this facility, we are able to supply manufactured sand and gravel to highway contractors by barge, rail and truck.

As traffic volumes, speeds and vehicle weights increased, we again saw the need to pursue new products that would extend the life cycle of our local roads and state highways. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, in our quest to continue providing the highest quality liquid asphalt materials to the highway construction industry, we began to investigate the use of polymer modification to asphalt to increase the longevity of our transportation network. After investigating all of the known methods of polymer modification, it was decided in 1992 to utilize the Seal-O-Flex™ process of modification. We joined with Ergon Inc. of Jackson, Mississippi as a licensee of the process and became the Midwest manufacturer and distributor of Seal-O-Flex™.

Our success tories using this polymer modification method include interstate highways, major tollways, high volume municipal streets, race tracks, test tracks, airport runways and manufacturing and commercial parking lots.

Changing Times

With the development of SuperPave and performance graded asphalt in the late 1990's, Seneca Petroleum continued its commitment to the industry. By introducing high quality neat PG graded liquid asphalt, we were able to meet the specifications of the various state and local municipalities in the Midwest, where polymer modification is not required.

SuperPave also has increased the need for quality control testing of our products. We are affiliated with ATL (Asphalt Testing Lab) of Crestwood, Illinois for the testing and certification of our asphalt products. ATL is and AMRL certified testing laboratory with the capabilities of running all of the mandated test procedures to verify the quality of our asphalt. They also provide certified mix design for contractors and municipalities throughout the Midwest.

Maintenance Help

In our pursuit to provide a full range of products to the state, county and local highway agencies that we serve, we have developed high quality cold mix (SMP™). This product allows us to supply them with a material that ensures long lasting repairs for streets and highways until they can be reconstructed.

SMP™, when applied correctly, is guaranteed to provide permanent repairs to highway defects. In most cases, these repairs will last as long, or will outlast, the surrounding materials.

Expanding Horizons

Our desire to continue serving the highway industry has lead us to open a new shipping facility in Peoria, Illinois. We also have marketing agreements, which allow us to supply products from Burns Harbor, Indiana. From these facilities, as well as our Lemont, Toledo and Michigan City terminals, we are able to show our commitment to becoming a leader in the Midwest's liquid hot asphalt industry. We refuse to rest on our past successes and continue to look for additional facilities from which we can expand our presence in the industry.

Our Philosophy

Seneca Petroleum has always believed in the words, Integrity and Quality First. It is our reputation that is on the line; our management and employees are dedicated to the continued production and development of high quality asphalt products for our customers and the industry.

Seneca Modified Asphalts

Higher traffic counts and heavier wheel loading has placed an ever-increasing demand on asphalt pavements. This has spurred transportation officials to look for new ways to add strength and durability to pavement structures. One of the most popular methods is the use of polymer modified asphalt binders.

Over 25 years of experience in Europe and a number of areas in the United States provide compelling evidence that Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene polymers (SBS) give asphalt the best blend of properties to address the problems of high temperature pavement deformation (rutting), load-associated fatigue cracking and thermal cracking.

To stay on the cutting edge of this technology, Seneca Petroleum Co., Inc. has joined with another industry leader, Ergon, Inc. as a sub-licensee in the Midwest for Seal-O-Flex™.

The Seal-O-Flex™ technology originally developed in Europe by Ooms Avenhord, N.V. and was introduced in the U.S. by Ergon and Seneca. Seal-O-Flex™ has been used with great success in Europe, Asia and the United States for over 25 years. Few technologies are capable of achieving this synergists interaction level between asphalt and polymers.

This partnership lets Seneca Petroleum Co., Inc. produce and market proven polymer-modified asphalt, while permitting Ergon to continue expansion of its industry-leading binder technology. Indeed, the combination of Seneca and Ergon technical resources, modern theological laboratories a, the Seal-O-Flex™ binder technology and research capabilities, provides a powerful coalition for excellence in product support.

Our success in the Midwest includes: Interstate Highways, Toll Highways, Municipal Streets, Race Tracks, Airports, High Performance and Proving Ground. Ask us about specifics.