Effectiveness of Chip Sealing and Micro Surfacing on Pavement Serviceability and Life

摘要

This report presents the details of an investigation to evaluate the effectiveness of Ohio Department of Transportation's prevailing chip seal and micro surfacing practices. The investigation focused primarily on two issues namely, optimal timing of treatment placement and cost-effectiveness. Data was derived from ODOT's Pavement Management Information System and included location, limits, data of installation, and annual performance data for 225 chip seal and 214 micro surfacing projects. At the end, this study resulted in a critical review and comprehensive understanding of the chip seal and micro surfacing program in Ohio and provided the basic data needed to determine when and where such preventive maintenance treatments are appropriate form the standpoint of both economics and performance. Based on the results obtained, the following conclusions are made: (1) Chip seals are cost effective treatments. They provide maximum benefits when applied on pavements whose Pavement Condition Rating is in the range 66 to 80. Under such conditions, chip seals can extend the service life of pavements up to seven years. (2) Micro surfacing treatments on general system (2-lane state routes) are reasonably effective. The best range of prior PCR for their installation is 61 to 70. Life of micro surfacing treatments on general system is nine years. (3) Micro surfacing treatments on priority system (4-lane or more) are marginally effective.