WHY ASPHALT SEAL COATS? 

 

 

Asphalt seal coat treatments are mainly a preventive maintenance procedure applied to the asphalt pavement surface to prevent or delay costly corrective measures. Asphalt seal coats are surface treatments designed to seal and protect the asphalt pavement from harmful environmental conditions such as sunlight, rain, and snow. Surface treatments are also applied to enhance the wearing properties and improve the traction between the pavement and vehicle tires.

Asphalt seal coat treatments are surface treatments and will not cure problems beneath the pavement such as a base failure. If the material beneath the asphalt pavement has deteriorated, treating the surface of the pavement will not solve the problem. Surface treatments work well where the distresses are limited to  pavement surface deterioration, or where cracks are not severe. The seal coat limits water from infiltrating through the pavement into the underlying material.

 

WHAT ARE ASPHALT SEAL COATS?

Asphalt seal coats are composed of a thin layer of an asphalt material such as cutbacks, asphalt emulsions, or paving grade asphalt cement. Modifiers are often added to the asphaltic liquid mixture and may include rubber, latex, polymers, and rejuvenators. Sand, aggregate, mineral and synthetic fillers, and rubber crumbs can be applied after the asphaltic mixture is applied to the pavement surface. Some seal coats such as slurry seals and microsurfacing incorporates the sand, aggregate, and fillers in the mixture before placing it on the roadway.