Micro Surfacing Beats the Heat in Arizona

Scottsdale slows thermal cracking with Type III Micro Surfacing on arterial and local streets at a scale never seen before.


  1. 2020 recipient of the Arizona Association of General Contractors Build Arizona Award for Pavement Preservation
  2. 20% improvement on PCI ratings over five years

Backstory

The city of Scottsdale’s road network is integral to their growth and success. They celebrated an 80+ PCI rating through the mid-2000’s, at which point the network began to decline into about 70 PCI due to traffic and the hot desert heat.

Problem

In 2014, the city wanted a sustainable alternative to normal pavement treatments. The hot temperatures required a strategic approach to restore and extend the high quality of road they had come to expect. Multiple treatments needed to be considered for arterial and local streets to control the flow of traffic during the process.

Using innovative methods such as fiber in the Microsurface has proven to preserve the pavement life and has been a key component to our success.

Craig Hanson
Street Operations Manager, Street City of Scottsdale

Solution

The city partnered with VSS International to enact an aggressive preservation plan, utilizing Microsurfacing with fiber reinforcements on a scale not seen anywhere else in the United States to slow thermal cracking. Type 3 treatments were executed for arterial roads, while a type 2 treatment was used for residential streets. Their roads returned to a PCI rating of 80+. The pavements continue to maintain their high quality, establishing Scottsdale as a leader in innovative pavement preservation techniques.

 

Click here for additional information & 2020 ISSA award submission

Photos

  • Network Condition 2017
  • Network Condition 2018
  • Network Condition 2019
  • Before construction
  • Before construction
  • During Construction
  • During Construction
  • Upon Completion
  • Upon Completion
  • Upon Completion