Primary Services
ASPHALT CHIP SEAL, usually applied with a fog seal afterwards – re-apply every 7 to 10 years.
- Soft, flexible, polymer modified asphalt emulsion.
- Seals the surface, including small surface cracks, to protect the road from oxidation (Seals most moderate width cracks for a few years).
- Keeps water from penetrating the road structure, protects the underlying base, stops the raveling of old pavement, and minimizes the effects of aging.
- Multiple layers can be applied to address severe cracking and raveling of oxidized/deteriorated pavements, as long as the subgrade is in good condition.
- Multiple layers can be installed on prepared gravel surfaces to create a hard road surface and eliminate the need for dust control.
- Provides a highly skid-resistant surface.
- Minimum disruption during construction to the traveling public; road is kept open with one way traffic, controlled by flaggers.
- Drawbacks: Loose gravel during construction; Needs to be swept a few times over the first winter.
SLURRY SEAL
The principal materials used to create slurry seal are aggregate, asphalt emulsion, and filler, which are mixed together according to a laboratory’s design-mix formula. Water is also added for workability.
Asphalt emulsions serve as a binder, holding the crushed aggregate together and adhering the new slurry surfacing to the old surface over which it is being applied. Various emulsions and aggregates are used to meet the conditions, specifications, and requirements of individual projects.
The aggregate must be clean, crushed, durable, properly graded, and uniform. The asphalt emulsion is a three-part system consisting of asphalt, water, and emulsifier. Fillers such as Portland cement, hydrated lime, or aluminum sulfate liquid are often used in small quantities as stabilizers or chemical modifiers.
Continuing advancements in mixing methods, emulsions and machinery have made slurry seal today’s choice in providing highly durable, low cost paving and surface maintenance. As a treatment for everything from residential driveways to public roads, highways, airport runways, parking lots, and a multitude of other paved surfaces, slurry seal is now used extensively throughout the world.
Slurry is made in specially designed equipment, either truck-mounted or self-propelled. This equipment carries a quantity of unmixed materials which are blended together in a continuous flow pugmill. The use of this technologically advanced machinery insures a smooth, consistently uniform mixture.
Slurry is made quickly and accurately at the project site. Mixing and spreading are accomplished in one continuous operation, with the surface being reopened to travel within a few hours.
APPLICATION:
Slurry seal is applied to an existing pavement surface by means of a spreader box linked to the surface slurry-mixing unit. Slurry is introduced into the spreader box, which then lays down the slurry coating as the mixer/spreader is driven forward.
The box is capable of spreading the slurry seal over the width of a traffic lane in a single pass, and is constructed so that close contact with the existing surface is maintained. This insures uniform application of the new coating on a variety of configurations encompassing various crowd shapes, superelevated sections, and shoulder slopes.
ADVANTAGES:
- LOW COST. Slurry is economical to install, highly cost-effective to use.
- RAPID USABILITY. Easy, swift application of a new overlay makes slurry especially attractive for rehabilitating busy thoroughfares, parking lots, and airport runways. The new surface is ready for use just hours after application.
- AESTHETICS. With one simple application, existing pavement receives a new wearing surface of uniform black color and texture. Enhanced appearance means increased property value, marketing potential, and buyer acceptance. Thoroughfares, shopping center parking lots, and other public or commercial pavements treated with slurry seal become more attractive and eye-appealing.
MICROSURFACING is a polymer-modified cold-mix paving system that can remedy a broad range of problems on today’s streets and highways.
Like its parent product, slurry seal, Micro Surfacing begins as a mixture of dense-graded aggregate, asphalt emulsion, water, and mineral fillers. But Micro Surfacing has added capabilities, because it includes high-quality, advanced polymers and other modern additives.
Micro Surfacing is made and applied to existing pavements by a specialist machine, which carries all components, mixes them on site, and spreads the mixture onto the road surface.
Using various design mixes, techniques and equipment, Micro Surfacing can be used successfully in these situations:
- In quick-traffic applications as thin as 3/8 inch (9.5mm), Micro Surfacing can increase skid resistance, color contrast, surface restoration, and service life to high-speed roadways (interstates and autobahns). Such projects are often reopened to traffic within an hour.
- Modern, continuous-load pavers can lay 500 tons of Micro Surfacing per day, with no long traffic delays. This equates to an average 6.6 lane miles (10.6 lane kilometers) per day for surfacing applications.
- On airfields, dense-graded Micro Surfacing produces a skid-resistant surface without loose rock that damages aircraft engines.
- As a thin, restorative surface source on urban arterials and heavy traffic intersections, Micro Surfacing does not alter drainage; there is no loss of curb reveal.
- Because of its quick-traffic properties, Micro Surfacing can be applied in a broad range of temperature and weather conditions, effectively lengthening the paving season. It is particularly suitable for night applications on heavy-traffic streets, highways, and airfields.
- Micro Surfacing life expectancy usually exceeds seven years.
