Products
Micro Surfacing
Micro surfacing is a polymer-modified cold-mix paving system that can remedy a broad range of problems on today’s streets, highways, and airfields.
A History of Expanded Use
Micro surfacing was pioneered in the early 1970s by experimenting with conventional slurry seals to find a way to use it in thicker applications which could be applied in narrow courses for wheel ruts, and not destroy the expensive road striping lines on the interstate system. Scientists used high quality aggregates and bitumen and then incorporated special polymers and emulsifiers that allowed the product to remain stable even when applied in multi-stone thicknesses. The end result was micro surfacing.
Micro surfacing was introduced in the United States by our sister companies. Micro surfacing now is recognized not only as the most cost-effective way to treat the surface wheel-rutting problem, but also a variety of other road surface problems. Micro Surfacing is now used throughout the United States, and is making inroads into many other areas of the globe.
How is Micro Surfacing Made and Applied?
Micro surfacing is made and applied to existing pavements by special machines, which our sister company, Reed International, Inc. design and build. These highly specialized machines are designed to transport and mix all components on site, and then spread the mixture onto the road surface. Materials are continuously and accurately measured, and then thoroughly combined in the machines’ mixer. As the machine moves forward, the mixture is continuously fed into a full width “surfacing” box which spreads the width of a traffic lane in a single pass. Or specially engineered “rut” boxes, designed to deliver the largest aggregate particles into the deepest part of the rut to give maximum stability in the wheel path, may be used. Edges of the micro surfacing are automatically feathered. The new surface is initially a dark brown color and changes to the finished black surface as the water is chemically ejected and the surface cures, permitting traffic within one hour in most cases.
