Resealing Essential to Maintaining Life of Local Roads

Ruapehu District Council’s seasonal road resealing programme is in full swing with 37 separate sites planned for resealing over the summer months.

The resealing programme is part of council’s road pavement preventative maintenance programme aimed at maintaining the life of Ruapehu’s sealed road network.

Ruapehu Land Transport Technical Services Coordinator Andrea Nicol said that people often ask why council is resealing a road when it looks undamaged and in good condition.

“The ideal time to reseal a road is just before any damage occurs.”

“On average a newly sealed road can be expected to last around 14 years.”

“If we leave it too late the seal starts to break down and it lets water in which speeds up the rate of deterioration and we end up with pot holes and other issues.”

Ms Nicol said that Ruapehu roads are generally resealed with a chip seal.

“The process begins with minor repairs being carried out a couple of months prior to resealing.”

“The actual resealing process involves hot bitumen being sprayed and then stone sealing chips being spread and rolled in,” she said.

“Traffic is then allowed on the road to bed the new seal.”

“Excess sealing chips are swept away within a week or so, road marking is reinstated soon after and the temporary traffic management is removed allowing traffic to return to normal.”

Ms Nicol noted that council reseals up to 30km of local roads each year at a cost of around $1.1 million.

A full list of local roads being resealed this summer can be found on council’s website. See: http://goo.gl/Fdym6Q

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