Surface dressing programme begins on Wirral roads

The annual roads maintenance programme is continuing at pace across Wirral with contractors now beginning work on the third treatment within the programme – surface dressing. 

With nearly 120 roads scheduled for treatment as part of this year’s programme, surface dressing is the most widely used treatment on Wirral roads.

This is largely because this year not only are the council’s contractors using this treatment on some main roads, they have invested in smaller vehicles so that local roads can also be repaired with this treatment too. 

Roads scheduled for work will have closures in place, but these will be for a shorter period of time than other treatments as the crews can repair the roads quicker and - once the new surface is laid - traffic can drive on it straight away. This needs to be done with a little care at first due to loose chippings, but having vehicles driving over surface dressed roads will help embed the treatment faster and create the final road surface.

Residents whose road is due to be treated may have seen workers already out carrying out the first stage of the surface dressing treatment which is known as ‘patching’. This is where hazards such as potholes and cracks are repaired prior to the new surface being laid.

After patching, the new surface is laid and the crews will move on, leaving some loose chippings – but they have not yet finished the job. They will be back once the chippings have been given time to bed in and they will then spray the road with a ‘lock chip’ coating, which seals the road and locks the remaining chips in place. The final stage is for road markings to be reapplied in the following weeks.