A PRELIMINARY REPORT ON THE ESS "TECH SEAL" AND ESS "ARMOURFLEX" SYSTEMS OF ROAD CRACK REPAIRS

The conventional overbanding of surface cracks in roads, which is necessary to prevent the ingress of surface water, results in bands of sealant material which has a low skidding resistance in the wet. These bands can be longitudinal or transverse and while the former can be mistaken for road lane markings, both create skidding risks to traffic and are especially dangerous to motorcyclists. In some circumstances which are not readily detectable from the surface, the conventional sealing bands fail and permit water to enter the cracks and cause further damage below. Frequently road cracks extend upwards through the next new surface to be laid. The ESS "tech seal" and ESS "armourflex" systems of crack repair do not protrude above the road surface, have a skid resistance value (SRV) similar to the adjacent road and do not reflect oncoming headlights. They bridge the crack and are designed to be self-sealing should the crack widen and to prevent cracks extending upwards through subsequent surfaces as these are laid. This report outlines the problems which the new systems are designed to overcome and the means by which this is to be achieved. Urban and rural road crack repairs have been installed and their efficiency and durability will be monitored at six monthly intervals for three years and reported upon yearly. (a) (TRRL)

• Corporate Authors:

  Society of Roadcraft

  Traffic Accident Investigation Unit, 41 South Road
  Hailsham, East Sussex,   England 
• Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

• Pagination: 20 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bituminous mixtures; Cracking; Durability; Economic efficiency; Fibers; Glass; Monitoring; Motorcyclists; Pavement cracking; Performance; Prevention; Repairing; Seal coats; Sealing compounds; Skid resistance; Surfacing; Water
• Uncontrolled Terms: Efficiency; Repairs
• ITRD Terms: 4967: Bituminous mixture; 5211: Cracking; 5910: Durability; 5911: Efficiency; 4557: Fibre; 4547: Glass; 9149: Prevention; 3635: Repair; 2973: Sealing coat (on top of the surfacing); 3031: Skid resistance; 2972: Surfacing; 4355: Water
• Subject Areas: Construction; Economics; Geotechnology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Materials; Security and Emergencies; I52: Construction of Pavements and Surfacings; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00451009
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Report/Paper Numbers: No. G52/84
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 27 2004 9:05PM