FAQ [CHIP SEALING – ENGINEERING DIVISION]

What is chip sealing? Chip sealing is a common pavement maintenance treatment to help extend the life of city roads and fill cracks, preventing water from penetrating roads, freezing and expanding, forming pot holes during the winter. All roads have normal cracking, due to the expansion and contraction in the differing weather during our Michigan seasons.

What are the steps to chip sealing? Crews first place a layer of bituminous (asphalt/tar) liquid, then a layer of small gravel, or “chips.” They come back after a week to sweep away any loose stones, then the chip layer is covered with another layer of bituminous liquid (“fog sealing”) to lock in the stone. The final product looks like an asphalt road.

Why do you use this process? We compare road treatments to the roof on a house. The idea is to not let water get below the roof’s shingles into the wood, structural part of the roof, and the same principal applies to roads. The Engineering Division tries to prevent water from leaking into the gravel below the asphalt/bituminous road layer, which can then freeze, break the surface of the road and form pot holes.

How long does a chip seal treatment last? This treatment will last five to seven years before another treatment is needed.

Why are you chip sealing a good road? While residents sometimes question our treatment of a road that appears to be intact, we treat the road surfaces routinely prior to potholes and webbed cracking. Just like a roof in the previous example, in which it is cheaper to roof over shingles than replace structural wood, it is much cheaper to treat roads in a preventative manner.

Tell me about the 2014 chip sealing program. In early March, the City Commission approved this year’s chip sealing program on 47 streets across the city, at an estimated cost of $593,228.30. A bid for that work was accepted from Pavement Maintenance Systems LLC.

Where can I see/drive on a chip sealed road? An example of a chip sealed road from last year’s program is North Wood Street from West Roosevelt Avenue to West Goodale Avenue. The current program streets are in progress and are expected to be finished the week of July 21. A complete list of 2014 road treatments is at the city’s website, www.battlecreekmi.gov. Go to the Public Works Department, Current Projects and Road Treatments.