Bituminous pavement becomes increasingly brittle with age. Weathering and traffic cause numerous cracks and fissures in the pavement, which can no longer be effectively sealed by crack filling and sealcoating.

The City of Ramsey anticipates this level of deterioration to occur around 19 years after the pavement initial construction with good preventative maintenance. At this point, the City would program the pavement for a bituminous overlay.

A bituminous overlay provides a one and one half-inch thickness of new bituminous mat over the original surface after City crews have repaired section failures, potholes, and depressions. The type of maintenance provides a new appearance to the surface of the street and adds additional load carrying strength to the pavement.

Expectations During/After Overlay Process

Here are a few things you can expect during and after the bituminous overlay process:

• Streets will be marked with signs and cones, so use alternate routes if possible.
• The overlay takes a few hours per street.
• Individual driveways will be smoothly transitioned into the new road pavement.
• Within two weeks of the overlay, the pavement edge will be shouldered with topsoil and seed, or Class 5 depending on location, to eliminate the drop-off from the edge of the new pavement.
• Bituminous curb line will become shallower.
• Within a twelve-month period, it is typical for the larger working cracks of the original pavement to reflect through into the overlay.