Use of chip seal treatments to mitigate pavement roughness progression in cold regions

ABSTRACT

Chip Seals are a type of pavement preservation treatment characterised by its ability to reduce pavement deterioration and restore surface condition. Chip seal performance, like other pavement preservation treatments, depends on several factors such as environmental conditions, traffic level and the condition of the existing pavement structure prior to treatment application. In cold regions, the presence of freeze and thaw cycles promotes the generation of thermal cracks and possible tenting distresses, consequently, pavement roughness has been a prominent parameter to assess treatment performance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the roughness progression on several chip seal configurations in a cold climate region, utilising a set of field performance data from the Pavement Preservation Group Study, a broader research study conducted by the National Center for Asphalt Technology and the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Road Research Facility. The main findings indicate that chip seals provide a negligible effect on immediate roughness improvement; however, on a long-term basis, they provide a reduction in IRI progression over time. The magnitude of the IRI benefit is dependent on the type of chip seal implemented and the traffic level experienced.

KEYWORDS:

• Pavement preservation
• chip seal
• roughness
• benefit

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Mr. Ben Worel, Mr. Jerry Geib, Dr. Michael Vrtis, and Mr. Jacob Calvert from the Minnesota Department of Transportation for their support throughout the development of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

The authors confirm their contribution to the paper as follows: study conception and design: A. Vargas-Nordcbeck; data collection: A. Brenes-Calderon; analysis and interpretation of results: A.Vargas-Nordcbeck, A. Brenes-Calderon; draft manuscript preparation: A. Brenes-Calderon, A.Vargas-Nordcbeck. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The research presented in this study was funded through TPF-5(375) National Partnership to Determine the Life Extending Benefit Curves of Pavement Preservation Techniques (MnROAD/NCAT Joint Study – Phase II).