Surface dressing
Road surfaces are affected by weather changes, which makes them expand and contract. This often causes cracks which let in water and frost, damaging the surface, structure and strength of the road.
Surface dressing helps extend the life of roads and provides a new skid-resistant surface to help reduce the risk of accidents.
A thin layer of bitumen (binder) is applied to the road surface and then covered with a layer of stone chippings. The bitumen acts as a waterproofing seal stopping water from penetrating the surface. This helps reduce the number of potholes forming when it freezes. The stone chippings protect the bitumen from damage by vehicle tyres and improves skidding resistance.
Surface dressing doesn't smooth an already uneven road and it is not designed to strengthen the road.
The advantages of surface dressing are:
- The speed we can do the work
- Minimal traffic disruption
- Cost effective
Surface dressing work cannot be done in cold or wet conditions, so we carry out the work between April and September each year.
If no repairs are done the road structure could fail, leading to expensive and disruptive reconstruction work.
Working on your road
If we are surface dressing your road, we will write to you giving you as much notice as possible. If there are last minute changes to the scheduled date(s), this will be down to the weather. This type of work cannot be undertaken in wet, damp conditions or in prolonged, extreme heat. If the weather results in us not being able to carry out these works as planned, we will reschedule at the earliest opportunity. This is likely to be (but not always) the next dry day.
We will not close the road to residents, but vehicle and pedestrian traffic will be managed for your safety and that of the workforce. Bin collections are normally unaffected.
If you have a vehicle, do not park on the road from 7am to 7pm on the day of the work and the day afterwards, when we will be sweeping. The clearer the road, the quicker we can finish the job. We cannot advise on alternative places to park.
A 20mph speed restriction will be in place during and immediately after the work for safety reasons.
Drivers should try to avoid sudden braking or steering manoeuvres. It's also important that you don't walk on the surface until the end of the work.
If you get bitumen on your shoes it should come off with white spirit, but we recommend testing on an inconspicuous area first.
There will be some loose chippings on the surface for a while. To ensure a uniform coating of the surface, more chippings are deliberately applied to the surface than are required to complete the dressing process. The road is then opened to traffic with 20mph speed warning signs in place, which allows slow moving traffic to further embed the chippings. The road is swept at regular intervals to remove any excess chippings.
- First sweep: the day after works completed.
- Second sweep: seven days after works completed.
- Third sweep (if required): within 30 days of works being completed.
Road markings will be restored as soon as possible. This is usually two to three weeks after the surface has been dressed and once excess chippings have been removed (allowing lines to fully adhere to the new surface).
We'll do our best to keep any inconvenience to a minimum.