Our brand spankin' new roads... err, gravel roads that is

[doobie]

Gina-you covered chip and seal beautifully, can't get one over on one of Lee's girls when it comes to road construction!!  I worked For KDOT 25 years and we did the same thing. It helps seal minute cracks keeping out moisture, preventing damage in winter and exrends the life of the road.  It is a mess for a week or two with dust problems and a cracked windshield here and there, but IT DOES WORK!!

[Diane Amberg]

I knew about the procedure for putting it down, but didn't know about the limited number of trips per day..Thanks. I love learning new things.

[srkruzich]

There's no doubt they can find this one... its the highest point in the road. You'll get a pretty good jolt if you accidentally drive over it.

The problem is our roads were already paved. They were not in good shape by any means but certainly better than just throwing some gravel on it. Now if we had dirt roads I could completely understand but this just makes no sense.

Here's basically what has gone on since I've been here:

1. The roads weren't in good shape when I got here and riddled with pot holes
2. They would periodically patch the pot holes with some asphalt and manually pack it down
3. Just recently they brought someone in with some very nice equipment to fill the pot holes on many of the roads in town. The holes were filled, leveled, and finished very well. They were nice and smooth. They only fixed some of the more major ones but it will still quite nice compared to what had been done in the past. The roads still needed some major work to be good but it was definitely a start in the right direction.
4. Now just recently (and not very long after the nice repairs) they have pretty much negated all of that work and just put tar and gravel right on top of the current paved roads (and man hole covers apparently).

Unless this is just some precursor to some fresh paved roads, it simply makes no sense. All I'm seeing is a tremendous waste of money. (surprise! - insert sarcasm)

Ok i know what they are using.  But normally they run a compactor over it and smooth it down.  The way your saying they did it won't last long and will develop ruts in the road and retain water which this winter will cause it to break apart.  Not the brightest move on the planet.   

Uhm they use that in county roads back in the south instead of full fledge pavement. CHeaper.  IT lasts IF IT IS DONE PROPERLY but from what you described it was just a spray and toss and that won't last.
waste of money

[W. Gray]

Every year we kids in our neighborhood in Independence, Missouri, had a treat because we got to watch the roads being reworked. All the kids would come out in their front yards and watch the heavy equipment come rolling in to "oil and chat."

A city street would be closed off for one block and the residents warned to keep their cars parked on adjacent streets as there would be no access for two or three days. A city worker drove his truck up and down the street blowing his horn warning that cars should be moved. There were, however, not a lot of cars on our block.

Then the city would plow the street up with a machine similar to a farm disk.

Next a grader came down smoothing the disked road out the way they wanted it.

Next an oil spreading truck made a spraying trip up and down the block to cover every bit of dirt that had been graded.

Next the city put up closure ropes and let the road set for a day or two. In the meantime, the residents would have to walk in the ditches or on their neighbor's property to get to and from their homes.

The next day or so a dump truck came along and spread what we called "chat," which is apparently now called chip.

Then a heavy roller came through and made several passes pressing the chat down into the oil as much as possible.

Then the road closure signs were taken down and the cars could come through.

It was a messy process and we went barefooted in the summer and would walk on the roads and get tar all over our feet and lower legs. The curing process for the road took a while to take. In the meantime, we had to clean ourselves with kerosene, but there were some parents who were content to let the tar "wear off" their kids.

If the weather was hot, and it usually was, two tire lanes down the middle of each street would look like tar strips where the cars would further push the chat into the oil. A lot of the chat, though, wound up in the drainage ditches where it was thrown by car wheels.

It took a month or so for the road to look normal but the process provided a minimally "paved" road to drive on that was better than crushed rock and it was not dusty after the first day or two.

Somehow the city was able to do 500 miles of streets each summer. At some point the city tired of this process and they paved every street in the city.

[Ole Granny]

KS  77 from 400 south to Atlanta, KS has used the chip and seal for years.  It is a mess when they are doing it but does the job.  Makes you want to take a different route for a few weeks.  Took that route many times from Wichita to M K & O Ranch south of Grenola.  Patiences is the best answer.

[mtcookson]

From doing some reading online it looks like the chip and seal process actually produces a pretty nice road, some that even look really nice as well.

I don't believe that's what we have here. It appears they are doing the chip and seal process but are using the wrong type of gravel, its too big. It is smaller than what is used on the county roads but it seems too big to do a proper chip and seal road from what I can find online. Its also just regular gray/white colored gravel whereas most other pictures I've found online use a colored gravel to make it look very nice. Basically, it simply looks like we now have very bumpy gravel roads throughout the town. Yeah, the gravel should stick pretty well due to the tar but I highly doubt it will help property values. Still seems like a waste of time and money to me using this type of gravel.

[oldfart]

how do you know this rock is to big to do the job right.  its chips. as for colored rock if you want to pay for trucking fees get it from some where else. to get all the bumps and stuff out get Dustrol out of Towanda . They grind up the road reheat the asphalt and re lay it.

[mtcookson]

Searching around online it appears they recommend rock no larger than 3/8 inch and there are quite a few pieces out there right now that are certainly larger than that. I also checked to see how well the rock was stuck to the tar and... well, the particular spot I tested seemed to have no adhesion at all, I was able to get down to the tar just brushing with my shoe (I put it all back of course ).

I'm sticking with my original opinion. It looks bad, seems to offer no improvement, and seems to be a huge waste of money. Maybe time will change my opinion... but I doubt it.

[srkruzich]

Searching around online it appears they recommend rock no larger than 3/8 inch and there are quite a few pieces out there right now that are certainly larger than that. I also checked to see how well the rock was stuck to the tar and... well, the particular spot I tested seemed to have no adhesion at all, I was able to get down to the tar just brushing with my shoe (I put it all back of course ).

I'm sticking with my original opinion. It looks bad, seems to offer no improvement, and seems to be a huge waste of money. Maybe time will change my opinion... but I doubt it.

IF you can brush it with your shoe it was never compacted. IF it is compacted it won't do that.

[Dee Gee]

A chip & seal is a good surface if done correct.  The rock has to be clean and free of dust or it will not stick to the asphalt.  Also if they are using a AC oil the rocks needs to be dry, if using a SS oil the chips should be damp.  This would be a good place to be doing with the low traffic count and slow speed of the traffic.