Micro Surfacing Success Stories

Microsurfacing was successful in reducing wet weather crashes on bridge decks and approaches.  The benefits are due to micro surfacing's high friction characteristics.

Sylvania, OH is using micro surfacing to save money when resurfacing streets.  They expect 8 - 12 years of life extension with micro surfacing, costing 35 cents on the dollar compared to asphalt mill and repair.

Micro surfacing was successfully placed on one of the busiest and most congested roads in the Greater Columbus area. By working with the Ohio DOT, the contractor was able to minimize traffic disruption while placing a high quality material.

The Town of Fairfield saves their network using micro surfacing as the primary backbone of a robust pavement preservation program.

Progressive agencies are constantly seeking the most cost effective methods to improve ride quality and decrease cracking as part of their overall pavement management strategy. More and more agencies like MnDOT are finding the use of micro-milling and high performance micro surfacing mixes to be worthwhile investments of their limited funding.

In 2008, Tennessee DOT awarded $12-million worth of contracts for micro surfacing 500 miles of roads. 

Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development awarded a $2.25-million contract for improvements to Vance Brothers for 17.5-miles of US84 and LA Rte. 28 in Catahoula and LaSalle Parishes, with micro surfacing specified as the wearing course for most of the route. 

The stretch of Utah SR 36 that runs through Tooele between 3 O’Clock Drive and CR 2000 North, had actually been reconstructed with HMA in 2015-2016. The road was completely torn out and replaced; new utilities and curb and gutter were also constructed as part of the project. But the HMA placed on the roadway allowed water to permeate between two separate layers of asphalt.  Heavy snow or rain storms would drain into the first layer of asphalt, then into utilities, such as manhole concrete pipe, causing the manholes to flood. Within less than two years, the road needed to be sealed against water. UDOT and Tooele’s elected officials considered several preservation methods, including slurry seal and chip seal, but ultimately, because of the large numbers of vehicles traveling SR 36, the group chose to micro surface the pavement in the summer/fall of 2017 before winter could set in.

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

An evaulation of Texas roads provided surprising results when the best friction numbers came from a 10-year-old microsurfacing project. So when TxDOt had a new project that involved maximizing friction on a high traffic road (1-10 in Crockett County) they chose microsurfacing because it can yield greater long-term friction results throughout its service than an ultra thin lift overlay, and at a lower cost.

In 2005, Mississippi DOT preserved one of their most heavily trafficked highways, adding 14+ years of life while addressing friction, cracking and rutting-- Today in 2020, the highway has required no further treatments.