Sustainable Approach to Maintaining Low Trafficked Surfaced Roads

Abstract

A large portion of our Council’s road network consists of bituminous surfaces which carry low traffic volumes of less than 500 vehicles per day. The mechanism by which these bituminous surfaces deteriorate and fail are different to high trafficked roads. The main mode of deterioration for these surfaces will be caused by oxidisation of the binder and not from the traffic loading. Thus a different approach is required in the selection of the materials, design, construction and maintenance regimes used for these asphalt and sprayed seal surfaces to those carrying heavy and high volumes of traffic. This article sets out to provide some insight into how best to mitigate the effect f binder hardening in surfaces and what maintenance strategies to employ to provide the lowest life cycle cost for your network.