The Council is about to embark on a programme of surface dressing, starting on Wednesday 6 May.
As roads authority, Dumfries and Galloway Council is responsible for keeping roads safe to use. Routine maintenance, such as surface dressing, is essential if expensive resurfacing or reconstruction of roads is to be avoided.
For surface dressing to be effective, the chippings need to be rolled into a thin layer of hot bitumen on the road surface by a roller and by normal traffic movements.
Motorists play a key role in the success of surface dressing. So, pay attention to signs, stick to the prescribed speed limit, and drive slowly over newly surface dressed roads – this will improve the quality of the new surface and reduce the possibility of damage to your vehicle’s bodywork, windscreens and tyres.
As well as contributing to the success of surface dressing, the speed restrictions are for the safety and protection of motorists, pedestrians, vehicles and the road workers.
The Council will be spending over £2.8m on surface dressing this year and, during May, June and July, just over 1 million square metres of road will be treated with around 15,000 tonnes of chips and around 2 million litres of bitumen being added to the road surfaces.
Councillor John Martin, vice chairman of the DGFirst Management Committee, said, “It’s vital that we maintain our roads infrastructure while achieving best value. Surface dressing offers an affordable and effective method of improving the surface of our roads, adding on average 5 years to the life of a road at only 20 percent of the cost of completely resurfacing that road. However, in order for resurfacing to be effective, drivers have a key role to play. By driving slowly over newly resurfaced roads, they improve the long term quality of the surface and minimise the possibility of damaging their vehicle.”
Background information on surface dressing:
Road surfaces wear out as a result of traffic movement, particularly heavy vehicles. Traffic causes road surfaces to flex a few millimetres. This continuous flexing eventually causes cracking, allowing water to penetrate the road surface and foundations. In winter, the water in these cracks would freeze and expand, resulting in damage and deterioration. Surface dressing prevents this.
Surface dressing is very simple, quick, and the most cost-effective and least disruptive form of road resurfacing technique used internationally. A thin film of bitumous-based binder is sprayed onto the road surface and stone chippings are then spread and rolled into this.
Surface dressing has 4 main purposes:
1. forms a waterproof, flexible seal, preventing water penetration
2. arrests disintegration of the road surface
3. improves skid resistance of the road surface, reducing the likelihood of road traffic collisions
4. reduces spray in wet conditions, improving visibility in wet weather
Surface dressing is primarily a preventative treatment. Regular inspections are carried out, visually and using survey equipment, to assess the condition of road surfaces, with particular attention being paid to cracking and loss of skid resistance. Suitable surface dressings are then applied to ensure that roads are kept in good condition. If this is delayed, there can be consequences in terms of cost and safety.
Every dressing has to be properly designed to meet the particular requirement of that road. The type of binder and type and size of chippings depends on the road hardness, traffic using it, and skid resistance needs. A well-designed surface will improve the road surface and reduce the likelihood of road traffic collisions.
