If you’re a motorist you’ve probably driven over roads with loose chippings somewhere in Leicestershire. This is the story behind what goes into maintaining our road network every year.
Leicestershire County Council’s ‘surface dressing’ programme running through the summer months sees our team work to prevent potholes, keep roads waterproof and improve road safety all across the county.
This year the Highways team are maintaining over 660,000 square metres of road via surface dressing – equal to the same area as nearly 100 football pitches.
This process involves a ‘train’ of equipment, led by the team, adding a protective layer to roads. A tanker sprays bitumen binder on a clean, dry road surface, then stone chippings are spread from a chipper following behind.
After a second spread of chippings from another lorry, a ‘roller’ embeds the stones into the bitumen, with some loose stones remaining on the road surface for about a week. Around 8,500 tonnes of stone will be used as the teams' surface dress.
The team surface dress throughout the summer period from May to end of August. Surface dressing relies on warm, dry weather so the material can embed to the road surface easier.
Surface dressing also creates smoother roads, which helps drivers to reduce their fuel consumption leading to a reduction in carbon emissions overall.
Our brilliant surface dressing team work hard to ensure county-wide transportation routes are safe and reliable for everyone.
By proactively maintaining and preserving our network of more than 2,500 miles of road with projects like this, we can minimize the need for more extensive repairs down the line, and in turn, save money.
Person:Councillor Ozzy O'Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport
The programme is annually carried out across various key routes and stretches of roads, planned in advanced to efficiently lead the team around the county.
Depots are located across Leicestershire, including Melton Mowbray, Misterton and Market Harborough, housing the equipment needed to carry out the work.
Tom Vesty, Highway Works Manager for Leicestershire County Council said: “Putting in this hard work over the summer months helps expand our road’s lifespan for up to ten years, keeping our county moving.
“As well as giving thanks to our team, we are also grateful for residents who support our efforts when it comes to work around their local areas making the job easier for our officers.”
The team's work doesn’t stop after the summer period – they are then busy with preparing the road for the harsher weather months, including gritting.
Read more about the council’s surface dressing programme for the year on the website.
You can also watch a step-by-step video of the process on the Leicestershire County Council YouTube channel.