A massive £5.5m surface dressing scheme is happening right across Lincolnshire this summer.
The ambitious programme of work during the warmer months is the biggest we’ve yet undertaken and will see a significant makeover for 177 miles of our county’s roads – that’s the distance from Lincoln to Cardiff.
The huge-scale surface dressing scheme will be carried out at over 251 different sites with the addition of 25,000 tonnes of material and with the provision of thousands of working hours.
The scheme got underway in mid June and is planned to be wrapped up during the first half of August, weather permitting. This type of road dressing scheme is quick, effective – and because 251 Lincolnshire roads are getting it, there’s a high chance it will happen on a road near you.
What is ‘surface dressing’?
It’s a cost-effective and pre-emptive way to improve the condition of roads. It’s also quick to do and is designed to add another ten years to the life of a road surface. You’ve almost definitely seen it used already.
Surface dressing is when small stone chips are put down on the road and compressed into a sticky bitumen underlayer. Put simply, using these stones and tar makes damaged roads better to drive on. It will also help to level the roads and, once the stones are bedded in, is virtually identical to other road surface types.
But – and here’s the best bit – by putting surface dressing down, a road’s condition isn’t just improved, it’s made better for longer. Think of it like putting paint on a fence - do it early and the fence lasts longer, it's the same with this technique and roads.
And there’s recycling of materials involved too. Around 9,000 tonnes of recycled stone chips will be put back into the summer scheme to keep costs down. We get that by sweeping up loose material that comes from last season’s works.
75 tennis courts a day!
Cllr Michael Cheyne, executive member for highways, said: “This massive surfacing scheme is a very practical way of getting more life out of a road for less cost when compared to having to rip a road apart and then rebuild it and it costs around a tenth of what the more conventional methods do.
“It’s less disruptive for road users too. We don’t always need a short-term road closure to get the work done and crews can lay around 50,000 square metres of new surface a day which is the roughly the same as 75 tennis courts.”
What you’ll see happening
- Road studs moved prior to the works (where applicable)
- Residents in the area will receive a leaflet in advance of the works
- All ironwork will be masked (this includes gullies, manhole covers, etc)
- Surface dressing happens – which includes a layer of bitumen followed by one or two layers of aggregate which is then compacted down to be level and pushed into place.
- All sites are protected by a 20mph advisory speed limit (it’s important that we all stick to this while it’s needed – helps the dressing sit better on the layer underneath)
- Sweeping will begin between 24-48 hours later with a second sweep 7-10 days after that to remove the loose chips. Later in the year a further sweep (this happens after 13 weeks) will happen followed by a winter sweep
- Road markings and road studs will be reinstalled within 28 days of completion