Crack Sealing Treatments

SEALANT HEATING

• Load and heat sealant prior to planned start of installation
• Maintain material temperature at the manufacturer’s temperature recommendation
  • Agitation should be continuous; except when melter lid is open to add sealant.
  • Agitation speeds up melting, maintains sealant temperature and uniformity.
• Add sealant blocks equal to amount of sealant being applied
• Always apply sealant within manufacturer’s minimum and maximum temperature range
• Inspect your temperature regularly
• Some sealants can be reheated; check manufacturer’s instructions. 

FINISHING - GENERAL GUIDELINES

• Matching the project design configuration and by performing good, clean applications.
• Project design configurations call out the details of the application including: reservoir widths and depths, and placement configurations:
  • Flush Fill
  • Overband
  • Reservoir
  • Combination
• The specifics of the design should be verified during installation to ensure the application meets the project design. 
• The operator should attempt to place a clean application free of drips and puddles of excess sealant. To avoid puddles at end of a crack, the operator should turn around and go back over the material. Also, the operator can use drip stoppers on the tip to reduce drips on pavement when moving around.
• Operators should match the speed of sealant application to the size of the crack to ensure they are properly filling the crack without applying excessive material.

FINISHING - FLUSH FILL AND OVERBAND CONFIGURATIONS

• Both of these configurations should be considered when routing a reservoir is not appropriate for the pavement condition. 
• In the Flush Fill configuration, material is simply dispensed into the existing crack, flush with the pavement. Sometimes, flush fills are dispensed into the crack and excess material is struck off as shown in Figure A. 
• There are two types of overband configurations:  overband and capped.
  • Overband is defined as material that is shaped with a squeegee after application, and capped as material that is placed with a sealing disc and left unshaped. The squeegeed overband is shown in Figure B, the material is placed into and over the crack and then shaped using a squeegee, creating a band not exceeding 1/8” thick and 2” to 4” wide.
  • The capped configuration is shown in Figure C, where the material is placed into and over the uncut crack with a sealing disc, however, the material is left unshaped. 

FINISHING - RESERVOIR CONFIGURATIONS

• In a reservoir configuration, material is placed only into the reservoir in either a flush or recessed manner. 
• Reservoir designs may be Standard (Figure D), Deep (Figure E), and Shallow (Figure F). The difference exists in the width and depth of each design.
• Each of these figures has a flush fill application into the specified reservoir dimension.
• A recessed fill may also be used in a designed reservoir.
• In recess applications, the material must be placed lower than the pavement level in cases when an overlay is to be placed in the same season as the crack sealing operation. 

FINISHING - COMBINATION CONFIGURATIONS

• Combination configurations are the optimal placement configuration when conditions to rout the pavement exist.
• Combination configurations consist of both a designed reservoir cut into a crack, sealant placed into and over the reservoir, and an overband configuration shaped over the center of the reservoir with a squeegee or sealing disc.
• The overband configuration was devised to improve the performance of reservoir-type configurations through the addition of the band as a wearing surface.
• The overband covers and waterproofs the sealant/crack wall interface and provides a longer treatment life. 
• Overband configurations also work well on cracks that have considerable edge deterioration as the overband simultaneously fills and covers the deteriorated segments in the same pass.