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Surface dressing is a preventative treatment, to prolong the life of the roads. It is an essential part of our road maintenance strategy, alongside patching and resurfacing.
Why we use surface dressing
Surface dressing:
- helps prevent potholes forming by providing a waterproof seal
- improves skid resistance, with a thin layer of new stone chippings spread on the finished surface
is very effective on roads that have less traffic and lower speeds
- is cost effective. Roads can be kept in good condition for longer, so that resources can be directed to fully resurface the roads that need it most. Full road resurfacing costs 12 times more per mile
Some roads need an alternative treatment, so if your road is not on the list to be done, please keep an eye on our roadworks map for future works in your area.
A newly dressed road may feel 'bumpy' as the grip will have been restored. The surface will also be noisier initially while the chippings 'bed down'.
About the treatment
Surface dressing can only be carried out when the road is dry. When it rains, the work has to stop - changing dates across the whole programme of work. If we need to rearrange the date for your road, we will update the yellow information signs nearby with the new date.
Bitumen binder (glue) is sprayed onto the road, stone chippings are spread onto this and then compacted down with a roller. A sweeper then travels along the road the following day to clear any immediate loose stones.
It is a quick process - rural sites take less than a day to complete and urban roads will take 1 to 2 hours, depending on the length of the road. Because we can sometimes treat several roads in one day, we may not arrive at your road at the start of the day.
Surface dressing in action
Accessing your property, appointments and deliveries
We will need to close the road as we have a team of 20 people, two purpose built chipping spreaders, one spray tanker, six lorries feeding chippings and two suction road sweepers. This is a lot of equipment to fit into the road, even without traffic.
Please keep trips back and forth to your property to a minimum. There may be times when we need to ask you to wait or go another way, for example when we are moving heavy machinery.
If you have a hospital or doctor’s appointment, please allow extra time for your journey. Please let the team onsite know so they can arrange for you to leave and return easily.
If you are expecting a delivery on the day of the work, please let one of the team onsite know so they can let the delivery through. As works can be delayed by weather, please don’t rearrange planned deliveries.
Doing the work in the daytime
We cannot work overnight as surface dressing relies on the evaporation of water from the bitumen binder (glue) for it to set, and it needs traffic to travel on the new surface for it to 'bed down' and lock onto the old surface.
We also cannot work in wet weather, any amount of rain or surface water dilutes the bitumen and so doesn't hold the chippings in place - which is why our surface dressing programme runs from April through to September. In rural areas we will be working 8am to 4pm and in urban areas we will be working 9am to 4pm.
Loose chippings
There may be loose chippings still on the road. It takes cars driving on the surface to help the stones bed into the bitumen.
This is why there will be 20mph limit after the work. Travelling at a reduced speed through the newly dressed area will prevent skidding on the loose chippings, it helps 'bed down' the material and it will save your paint work.
We will aim to remove excess stones with a suction sweeper within two days of the work.
How you can help it go smoothly
After surface dressing your road, we hope not to bother you again for another 10 years.
But there are a few things you can to do help us, and yourself:
- please move your car off the road before 9am
- please keep children and pets away – for safety and cleanliness
- please keep to the temporary speed limits and avoid heavy braking to allow the surface to stabilise and ‘bed down’
- check your shoes before entering your car or home
- remove stains promptly with a cleaner for removing bitumen/oil which can be purchased from any motoring store
Before work starts
- yellow advance warning signs will be put up on affected roads two days before the work is due to start – each week we will publish on our newsroom the roads being dressed the following week
- please ensure you either park your car off the road or, if you need it during the day, move it to a nearby road (but check this road isn’t also being treated)
- wet weather causes delay and will change our programme
On the day we will
- sweep the road to remove any loose material
- cover all drains and manholes covers
- dress the road surface
- reopen the road
Afterwards
- loose chippings will be swept up the day after the work
- uncover taped up drains and manhole covers
- white or yellow lines and disabled bays will be replaced within 14 days