Sealed Road Resurfacing

• Project typeRoad Sealing
• Project valueVaries Annually (Refer adopted budget)
• Project scheduleOn Schedule
• Completion Date30 December 2024

About this project

Council has over 469 kilometres of sealed roads to maintain and funds an annual renewal program to resurface a small proportion of this urban and rural network. This program is predominately developed by reviewing the condition and age of sections of road but also sometimes for improved amenity within the streetscape. 

Why is this project being undertaken?

As a road surface ages, the bitumen within it become brittle and can begin to crack or lose its ability to hold onto the stone aggregate surface. This leads to water penetrating the underlying structure of the road which can cause more major failures like potholes. So, whilst your road or street might generally look to be in serviceable condition by the time of resurfacing it is likely reaching this point of brittleness and may soon begin to fail. Most sealed roads are resurfaced once every 15-25 years and varies according to a wide variety of factors.

What is happening and when?

Council typically aims to engage a contractor to complete these resurfacing works in the Spring time over a 2-3 week period to allow the new surface to ‘settle’ ahead of the much warmer summer months. If your road is selected for resurfacing you may notice arrows and text marking sections of the road which help identify the areas and type of treatment proposed. These marks are usually placed well ahead of the scheduled works but do not necessarily guarantee that your road will be resurfaced in the coming season. Sometimes minor changes are necessary due to scheduling or budget restraints which might delay a particular section to the following year.  

Above: If your road is selected for resurfacing, you may notice arrows and text marking sections of the road which will help identify the areas and type of treatment proposed.

Ahead of the actual resurfacing works you may notice Council road maintenance staff or other sub-contractors carrying out more detailed repairs to the road in preparation for a new surface.

Within urban streets and some higher usage rural areas Council contractors will notify residents and businesses via a letter drop in the week leading up to the proposed works. These letters contain a lot of detailed information and those affected are encouraged to read them in full to understand the process. 

The list of roads to be included in this year's program will be released once the contract has been awarded.

How will these works affect me?

If your road is selected for resurfacing then the letter drop completed by the contractor will nominate a proposed day for the works and ask that all parked vehicles are removed from the roadway on this day. Works can sometimes be delayed due to bad weather, equipment failure or material supply issues and push them back a day or two past the nominated date. Residents should be notified again if works need to be reschedules much further than a few days.

Vehicular access to properties will be maintained for as long as is practical but there will be a window of around 10-15 minutes during the actual resurfacing operation where no access is permitted. Traffic controllers are on hand all around the work site to help direct traffic and minimise the inconvenience.

Council predominately uses a sprayed seal surface treatment which involves the application of the thin film of hot bitumen applied to the road ahead of layer of aggregate (stone). Road rollers carry out a number of passes over the works to help settle the stone and embed this into the bitumen before the road is opened up again to traffic. In order to ensure that all of the bitumen is covered slightly more aggregate is placed than might actually stick to the surface. Any loose stones left on the road will be typically swept up around a week after treatment to allow the new seal to settle further under traffic and ensure a good coverage is achieved. The new treatments are monitored for a year and sometimes require a follow sweeping to capture the last of any loose stone.

Any existing line marking will be reinstated with one coat soon after the initial sweeping and a second coat 4-6 weeks after that. Temporary reflective markers are provided in the interim for the safety of road users.