Surface dressing climbs the 'best value' scale
Surface dressing is back in favour in South Wales thanks to high quality materials, equipment and methods of working
Among local authorities that had turned away from surface dressing in past years are three in South Wales that have now been convinced to give the road surface remediation process another try. And for all three it has proved a positive experience.
Done well, surface dressing is a very cost-effective way of extending the life of a road, preventing water ingress and reinstating resistance to skidding. But it can provoke complaints from motorists, members of the public and, crucially, local authority councillors concerned with spending money wisely, if done less than well.
Some local authorities have consequently explored alternative treatments, including micro-surfacing and full-scale planing and resurfacing. Theseare expensive compared to surface dressing, resulting in fewer roads getting treated.
The three councils to recently turn back to surface dressing - Newport, Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan - all had their work done by Shrewsbury-based contractor Accord.
'We identified a history of problems in South Wales, which had resulted in amajor reduction in the amount of surface dressing being carried out,' says Accord's national manager, Chris Thomas.
Accord's first contract in the region was with Newport City Council in 2005. Prior to that the local authority had gone for five years without doing any surface dressing, spending the money instead onthin surfacing and resurfacing. An important factor in winning the work was the technical expertise of the contractor, including the quality of the equipment and materials.
Accord use binders supplied by Nynas, who are the only company in the UK to have received HAPAS approval for their surface dressing emulsions. Both are polymer-modified cationic road emulsions, with one, Duramuls, designed specifically for premium-grade surface dressing binders and Fleximuls designed for intermediate-grade binders.
While Accord were carrying out their 2005 contract for Newport City Council, Cardiff City Council and Vale of Glamorgan Council took the opportunity to view the work.
'We did some surface dressing a few years ago but we had binder and chipping failures,' explains Vale of Glamorgan Council's senior highway maintenance officer, Ken Evans. 'When you waste money on surface dressing the public sees it, so after the failures we really were reluctant to try it again.'
Mr Evans admits that the £67,000 programme it put together for Accord's contract was challenging, involving rural lanes, urban streets and dual carriageway. 'Some of the areas we gave them were very bad right at the limit of surface dressing,' he says. The council insisted on HAPAS-approved materials and also demanded a two-year guarantee from Accord.
'The contract went very well,' says Mr Evans. 'It has definitely changed our minds about surface dressing.'
In total, Accord laid approximately 400,000m2 of surface dressing in SouthWales in 2006, 50% in the form of 'double dressing', where the first layer of binder and chippings is followed by a second layer, using smaller-size chippings. A further 40% was 'racked in' - with smaller chippings mixed with the larger stones - and just 10% comprised single size surface dressing, mainly on estate roads, where traffic loads are fairly low.
Among local authorities that had turned away from surface dressing in past years are three in South Wales that have now been convinced to give the road surface remediation process another try. And for all three it has proved a positive experience.
Done well, surface dressing is a very cost-effective way of extending the life of a road, preventing water ingress and reinstating resistance to skidding. But it can provoke complaints from motorists, members of the public and, crucially, local authority councillors concerned with spending money wisely, if done less than well.
Some local authorities have consequently explored alternative treatments, including micro-surfacing and full-scale planing and resurfacing. Theseare expensive compared to surface dressing, resulting in fewer roads getting treated.
The three councils to recently turn back to surface dressing - Newport, Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan - all had their work done by Shrewsbury-based contractor Accord.
'We identified a history of problems in South Wales, which had resulted in amajor reduction in the amount of surface dressing being carried out,' says Accord's national manager, Chris Thomas.
Accord's first contract in the region was with Newport City Council in 2005. Prior to that the local authority had gone for five years without doing any surface dressing, spending the money instead onthin surfacing and resurfacing. An important factor in winning the work was the technical expertise of the contractor, including the quality of the equipment and materials.
Accord use binders supplied by Nynas, who are the only company in the UK to have received HAPAS approval for their surface dressing emulsions. Both are polymer-modified cationic road emulsions, with one, Duramuls, designed specifically for premium-grade surface dressing binders and Fleximuls designed for intermediate-grade binders.
While Accord were carrying out their 2005 contract for Newport City Council, Cardiff City Council and Vale of Glamorgan Council took the opportunity to view the work.
'We did some surface dressing a few years ago but we had binder and chipping failures,' explains Vale of Glamorgan Council's senior highway maintenance officer, Ken Evans. 'When you waste money on surface dressing the public sees it, so after the failures we really were reluctant to try it again.'
Mr Evans admits that the £67,000 programme it put together for Accord's contract was challenging, involving rural lanes, urban streets and dual carriageway. 'Some of the areas we gave them were very bad right at the limit of surface dressing,' he says. The council insisted on HAPAS-approved materials and also demanded a two-year guarantee from Accord.
'The contract went very well,' says Mr Evans. 'It has definitely changed our minds about surface dressing.'
In total, Accord laid approximately 400,000m2 of surface dressing in SouthWales in 2006, 50% in the form of 'double dressing', where the first layer of binder and chippings is followed by a second layer, using smaller-size chippings. A further 40% was 'racked in' - with smaller chippings mixed with the larger stones - and just 10% comprised single size surface dressing, mainly on estate roads, where traffic loads are fairly low.
