This year’s road surface dressing programme in Pembrokeshire is scheduled to start this week.
The programme is carried out by Pembrokeshire County Council’s Maintenance division.
The programme will operate throughout the whole of the county in two separate operations.
One will start from Narberth and work towards Pembroke via Tenby, and then from Dale to Haverfordwest for the South of the County.
The other operation will start from St Davids and work towards Crymych for the North of the County.
The contract will be managed to the British Standard ISO9001:2000 standard.
What is surface dressing?
Surface dressing involves a coating of bitumen being sprayed on to the road surface, followed by one or more layers of hard stone chippings. Once the dressing has settled down after two or three days, the surplus chippings are then swept up by a mechanical sweeper.
Why carry out surface dressing?
There are a number of good reasons:
a) Restores a good skid resistance to smooth or slippery roads
b) Prevents water from seeping into the road foundation and weakening it, reducing the chances of potholes developing and delaying the need for complete rebuilding of a road.
c) It is up to ten times cheaper than other methods of restoring road surfaces
d) Traffic can be allowed to run on the new surface almost immediately, avoiding lengthy closures and disruption.
Unfortunately there are some disadvantages:
a) Drivers need to travel very slowly on the newly laid surface to prevent chippings being dislodged
b) Inconsiderate drivers travelling above the recommended speed cause chippings to be thrown up which can damage other vehicles and property.
Why surface dress now ?
To be successful, surface dressing relies on warm dry weather, and for this reason work is carried out from June to September. This ensures that physical changes to the bitumen take place and the chippings become embedded into the road surface which ensures long term stability of the new surface.
The County Council will:
a) Where practicable give advance notice of works to residents and drivers
b) Provide advisory and warning signs from the time of treatment to the time the road is ready for normal use
c) Sweep the road of surplus chippings once the new surface has settled down
d) Ensure that surface dressing is carried out to a high standard
e) Minimise hazards and disruption to traffic through correct use of traffic control
f) Ensure that complaints are investigated and appropriate action taken.
What you can do:
a) Ensure that your vehicle is not left on the road to be treated
b) Drive carefully to the recommended speed limit on recently treated roads, or when signs are displayed
c) Never overtake and try to avoid sudden braking and turning on newly treated roads
d) Take care walking near newly treated surfaces as it is possible to get bitumen on your shoes. This can be easily removed by the use of solvents such as turpentine or white spirit.
