How to Handle Different Types of Road Surfaces

Road surfaces are one of the key elements in any road construction project, as they must withstand impacts such as traffic, weather conditions and environmental considerations.

Durability at an acceptable cost must be the goal, which means choosing the appropriate surface material is vital to their success.

Gravel

Gravel roads provide cost-effective transportation alternatives while simultaneously protecting rural landscapes, but they require ongoing care for proper functioning. Water damage, truck traffic and erosion can quickly ruin them; potholes may form due to pothole formation; maintenance crews resurface gravel road surfaces to ensure smooth driving conditions while they work to stop further erosion by regularly reshaping crowns of roadways and ditches that collect rainfall for optimal driving.

If you notice signs of raveling (loose debris that rubs against the asphalt surface) on your asphalt pavement surface, it could be time for a general bituminous surface treatment (BST). BSTs offer protection from both sun and rain damage while helping avoid freeze/thaw damages that result from freeze thaw cycles.

Open graded friction courses (OGFCs) use high percentages of voids to lower noise levels and enhance skid resistance, but maintaining these surfaces can be challenging. You can help mitigate deterioration by spraying it periodically with calcium chloride solution to bind dust particles to asphalt rather than having them drift through the air and obscure visibility for vehicles.

Asphalt

Asphalt is what most people envision when they think of roads; its dark hue often associated with busy urban streets. Asphalt may be less expensive than other paving methods but may not last as long due to wear-and-tear.

Cracked and degrading pavement surfaces may result from poor construction practices, excessive traffic loads, thermal fluctuations or moisture damage – and can even become noisy!

Asphalt can be maintained more cost-effectively by surface dressing and slurry sealing, an economical method for maintaining existing pavements. This process starts by clearing away potholes and other surface irregularities before layering a layer of stone chips on top, followed by rolling it all flat before fixing with bitumen to secure their placement on the surface. This type of repair offers an alternative to major resurfacing work which involves stripping away layers to start from scratch; penetrated treatments are solvent based and employ a mixture of bitumen, dilutants, and plasticisers in order to penetrate coatings under them; penetrative treatments use blends of bitumen, dilutants, and plasticisers in order to penetrate coatings underneath.

Concrete

Concrete pavement surfaces are durable and long-term solutions, perfect for interstates and high traffic areas such as crosswalks. Requiring less maintenance than asphalt and with a longer life expectancy than its asphalt counterparts, concrete can also be stamped or colored for increased crosswalk visibility and to improve aesthetic appeal of roads.

Permeable asphalt paving materials allow water to pass through them easily, making this suitable for pedestrian walkways or parking lots with lower traffic loads. They may also contain polymer modifiers to increase resistance against tire scuffing and freeze-thaw cycles.

Microsurfacing involves applying a mixture of water, asphalt emulsion and fine aggregate (very fine crushed rock) onto an existing roadway surface. This mixture contains additives – polymers specifically – which allows it to harden without depending on solar heat for evaporation.

Bituminous Seals and Slurries

Slurry seals are an indispensable method of pavement maintenance, covering roadway surfaces with a coarse concoction consisting of aggregate, asphalt emulsion and various additives. Best used on streets showing early signs of distress, this preventive measure postpones natural surface deterioration while prolonging its life span.

Slurry mix is blended on-site and delivered to the prepared pavement surface through compartments in the rear of a truck equipped with a spreader box. Trained operators manage traffic during application of the slurry mix while monitoring automatic mixing processes and traffic management during its application. Personnel also clean the street/area prior to applying slurry, barricade the work zone, inspect uniformity levels before conducting complete spreader box cleanup.

Slurry seals can be used to repair minor surface cracks, voids, raveling and delineate different road surface areas. Slurry seals not only enhance aesthetics but also help increase surface friction characteristics using aggregate material. For optimal performance every 5-7 years should apply sealants.