Discussion
Here in Occupied North Berkshire the top dressing season has started. It's interesting that many cars are now being very careful and pootling along at about 15 ph. Is this a reflection of the huge number of PCP and Lease cars about and people are terrified of stone chips?
It doesn't affect those of us who drive sheds ......
It doesn't affect those of us who drive sheds ......
I find it's ok to trundle along in built-up areas, however if you try and stick to the 20 out of town you invariably get some f***wit overtake, pebble dashing your pride and joy.
I simply won't drive the '86 down theses roads until they are swept.
AFAIK surface dressing is a complete and utter waste of money.
I simply won't drive the '86 down theses roads until they are swept.
AFAIK surface dressing is a complete and utter waste of money.
Top dressing is the work of the devil. Lacks grip, chips your car to bits, especially when machine gunned by white van man coming the other way at 60mph and also hurts when blasted in the face by it on your bike.
Some of the harder chips do an excellent job of sawing a groove in coil springs when trapped between the bottom of the spring and spring seat, creating a stress riser - snap!
I'm sure a roads engineer on here has explained why this done before but in my impotent rage, I've forgotten why.
Some of the harder chips do an excellent job of sawing a groove in coil springs when trapped between the bottom of the spring and spring seat, creating a stress riser - snap!
I'm sure a roads engineer on here has explained why this done before but in my impotent rage, I've forgotten why.
Andy86GT said:
I find it's ok to trundle along in built-up areas, however if you try and stick to the 20 out of town you invariably get some f***wit overtake, pebble dashing your pride and joy.
I simply won't drive the '86 down theses roads until they are swept.
AFAIK surface dressing is a complete and utter waste of money.
I assume you have the citations for that last point I simply won't drive the '86 down theses roads until they are swept.
AFAIK surface dressing is a complete and utter waste of money.
5s Alive said:
Top dressing is the work of the devil. Lacks grip, chips your car to bits, especially when machine gunned by white van man coming the other way at 60mph and also hurts when blasted in the face by it on your bike.
Some of the harder chips do an excellent job of sawing a groove in coil springs when trapped between the bottom of the spring and spring seat, creating a stress riser - snap!
I'm sure a roads engineer on here has explained why this done before but in my impotent rage, I've forgotten why.
You can massively extend the lifespan of a carriageway by either surface dressing alone or patching then dressing. Some of the harder chips do an excellent job of sawing a groove in coil springs when trapped between the bottom of the spring and spring seat, creating a stress riser - snap!
I'm sure a roads engineer on here has explained why this done before but in my impotent rage, I've forgotten why.
Dressing alone is generally done where skid testing has proved the PSV (polish stone value) has fallen below what is acceptable and that something needs to be done to increase skid resistance. It's also pretty effective at preventing joint spalling, that's where sections of tarmac that have been laid at different times join and create a weak point, usually in the centre line.
Dressing following patching is done to re-seal all the joints in the patches along with also bringing back the PSV to an acceptable standard.
People get pissy about it and say it's a bodge but it's really not, there's no point ripping out structurally good tarmac just because the aggregate has polished up or hass fatted up (tar risen to the surface due to heat). It'd be like ripping all the plaster off your walls when they just needs a lick of paint.
As for sweeping, loose aggregate left for a period following treatment gets further run in by vehicle movement, it's a part of the process and we essentially use traffic to roll it in for a week or two after.
Edited by bobbo89 on Tuesday 28th May 19:00
bobbo89 said:
You can massively extend the lifespan of a carriageway by either surface dressing alone or patching then dressing.
Dressing alone is generally done where skid testing has proved the PSV (polish stone value) has fallen below what is acceptable and that something needs to be done to increase skid resistance. It's also pretty effective at preventing joint spalling, that's where sections of tarmac that have been laid at different times join and create a weak point, usually in the centre line.
Dressing following patching is done to re-seal all the joints in the patches along with also bringing back the PSV to an acceptable standard.
People get pissy about it and say it's a bodge but it's really not, there's no point ripping out structurally good tarmac just because the aggregate has polished up or hass fatted up (tar risen to the surface due to heat). It'd be like ripping all the plaster off your walls when they just needs a lick of paint.
As for sweeping, loose aggregate left for a period following treatment gets further run in by vehicle movement, it's a part of the process and we essentially use traffic to roll it in for a week or two after.
Thanks for that. I'll try to remember it this time. Dressing alone is generally done where skid testing has proved the PSV (polish stone value) has fallen below what is acceptable and that something needs to be done to increase skid resistance. It's also pretty effective at preventing joint spalling, that's where sections of tarmac that have been laid at different times join and create a weak point, usually in the centre line.
Dressing following patching is done to re-seal all the joints in the patches along with also bringing back the PSV to an acceptable standard.
People get pissy about it and say it's a bodge but it's really not, there's no point ripping out structurally good tarmac just because the aggregate has polished up or hass fatted up (tar risen to the surface due to heat). It'd be like ripping all the plaster off your walls when they just needs a lick of paint.
As for sweeping, loose aggregate left for a period following treatment gets further run in by vehicle movement, it's a part of the process and we essentially use traffic to roll it in for a week or two after.
Edited by bobbo89 on Tuesday 28th May 19:00
5s Alive said:
Thanks for that. I'll try to remember it this time.
No worries, I'll admit that it's s
t for drivers for a few weeks and I hate driving on dressed roads myself but it's short term pain for long term gain. You quickly forget about that surface dressed road you had to drive on for a week or two but you'd be crying more in the future if you had to drive on that same road had it not been maintained that way.
Question on this…
A stretch of road I regularly ride along has been extensively resurfaced, leaving a road which is massively improved versus before. We received the dreaded letter about them “dressing” the road surface to “increase longevity” etc. and I was all prepared for them to ruin everything by chucking lots of tiny stones down. However, they instead sprayed the entire stretch with a chemical of some sort. Is this an alternative now being used?
A stretch of road I regularly ride along has been extensively resurfaced, leaving a road which is massively improved versus before. We received the dreaded letter about them “dressing” the road surface to “increase longevity” etc. and I was all prepared for them to ruin everything by chucking lots of tiny stones down. However, they instead sprayed the entire stretch with a chemical of some sort. Is this an alternative now being used?
bobbo89 said:
You can massively extend the lifespan of a carriageway by either surface dressing alone or patching then dressing.
Dressing alone is generally done where skid testing has proved the PSV (polish stone value) has fallen below what is acceptable and that something needs to be done to increase skid resistance. It's also pretty effective at preventing joint spalling, that's where sections of tarmac that have been laid at different times join and create a weak point, usually in the centre line.
Dressing following patching is done to re-seal all the joints in the patches along with also bringing back the PSV to an acceptable standard.
People get pissy about it and say it's a bodge but it's really not, there's no point ripping out structurally good tarmac just because the aggregate has polished up or hass fatted up (tar risen to the surface due to heat). It'd be like ripping all the plaster off your walls when they just needs a lick of paint.
As for sweeping, loose aggregate left for a period following treatment gets further run in by vehicle movement, it's a part of the process and we essentially use traffic to roll it in for a week or two after.
How much does it rely on vehicles sticking to the 10/20mph advisory speed for it to bed properly? And if it's so great, why does it often seem to fail again so quickly after having been done?Dressing alone is generally done where skid testing has proved the PSV (polish stone value) has fallen below what is acceptable and that something needs to be done to increase skid resistance. It's also pretty effective at preventing joint spalling, that's where sections of tarmac that have been laid at different times join and create a weak point, usually in the centre line.
Dressing following patching is done to re-seal all the joints in the patches along with also bringing back the PSV to an acceptable standard.
People get pissy about it and say it's a bodge but it's really not, there's no point ripping out structurally good tarmac just because the aggregate has polished up or hass fatted up (tar risen to the surface due to heat). It'd be like ripping all the plaster off your walls when they just needs a lick of paint.
As for sweeping, loose aggregate left for a period following treatment gets further run in by vehicle movement, it's a part of the process and we essentially use traffic to roll it in for a week or two after.
Edited by bobbo89 on Tuesday 28th May 19:00
Coming up the A685 from Tebay towards Kirby Stephen there’s a nice crawler lane stretch that’s good for passing slower vehicles.
I was going to pass a couple of vehicles in front only to find this section had been surface dressed quite recently - no warning signs though of loose stones - presumably because the contractors had thought that sweeping the inside lane only would be ok. Hence, I abort the overtake early as soon as I realised there’s still a lot of loose chipping still in the overtaking lane. I didn’t want to shower the cars I was planning to pass with loose chipping, so I dropped well back - thankfully there was no one behind who wanted to go past.
This is why I hate this type of surfacing - it’s never finished properly and on stretches with overtaking lanes or dual carriageways, loose chippings are never cleared properly.
I was going to pass a couple of vehicles in front only to find this section had been surface dressed quite recently - no warning signs though of loose stones - presumably because the contractors had thought that sweeping the inside lane only would be ok. Hence, I abort the overtake early as soon as I realised there’s still a lot of loose chipping still in the overtaking lane. I didn’t want to shower the cars I was planning to pass with loose chipping, so I dropped well back - thankfully there was no one behind who wanted to go past.
This is why I hate this type of surfacing - it’s never finished properly and on stretches with overtaking lanes or dual carriageways, loose chippings are never cleared properly.
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