WSDOT Chip Seals—Optimal Timing, Design and Construction Considerations

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) does not have sufficient pavement preservation funding to keep up with inflation and pavement needs. This has caused WSDOT to emphasize in its preservation program lower-cost options such as chip seals. The study was conducted on several aspects of WSDOT chip seals including (1) the optimum timing for alternating chip seals (or Bituminous Surface Treatments (BSTs)) with hot mix asphalt (HMA) overlays, (2) design of chip seal application rates, and (3) a range of construction and performance factors. The research incorporated surveys, literature reviews, and five BST meetings that were held between 2006 and 2011. All of these activities are summarized in this report. WSDOT has continuously changed both policy and specifications as new information became available for improving their chip seal performance. In recent years, a policy change resulted in using chip seals on roadways with up to 10,000 annual daily traffic (ADT). As such, a secondary factor examined in this study was maximum ADT levels which provide for sensible chip seal construction.

• Record URL:
  http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/837.1.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Washington, Seattle

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, P.O. Box 352700
  Seattle, WA  United States  98195-2700

  Washington State Transportation Center

  University of Washington, 1107 NE 45th Street, Suite 535
  Seattle, WA  United States  98105

  Washington State Department of Transportation

  Research Office, Transportation Building, MS 47372
  Olympia, WA  United States  98504-7372

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Mahoney, Joe P
  • Slater, Megan
  • Keifenheim, Chris
  • Uhlmeyer, Jeff
  • Moomaw, Tim
  • Willoughby, Kim
• Publication Date: 2014-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Research Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 93p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Annual average daily traffic; Bituminous overlays; Chip seals; Hot mix asphalt; Literature reviews; Pavement maintenance; Surveys
• Geographic Terms: Washington (State)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements; I52: Construction of Pavements and Surfacings; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01563768
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: WA-RD 837.1
• Contract Numbers: Agreement T4118, Task 57
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: May 22 2015 4:12PM