A Three Year Evaluation of Fibre-Reinforced Chip Seal Systems in Saskatchewan

摘要

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure (MHI) relies on graded aggregate seals for the maintenance of the provincial highway network. These types of seals are a good option for a large part of the network, however, their effectiveness is greatly reduced on higher volume roads. MHI was interested in the development of more robust sealing treatments to preserve pavements. A pilot project of fibre reinforced engineered chip seals was designed and constructed in partnership with ColasCanada Inc. and ACP Applied Products in 2010. The seals were constructed in the Saskatoon and North Battleford maintenance areas, and they included single, racked-in, and sandwich chip seals with and without the use of fibre reinforcement. To evaluate the performance of the chip seals, graded aggregate seal sections were constructed by MHI immediately adjacent to the chip seals. Test sections were set up for each of the different types of sealing systems used. This paper provides an overview of the pilot project, including a discussion on the proposed chip sealing selection/design approach used to decide on the various systems, a summary of the placement operations, as well as a three year performance review of the test sections.