American Pavement Systems and Etnyre Team Up for Safer, Longer-Lasting Roads in California

Based in Modesto, California, American Pavement Systems (APS) are an active participant in California’s battle against asphalt deterioration. They use proven techniques to improve, extend and deliver safer roadways with longer life to the citizens across this great state and beyond.

California has a little bit of everything when it comes to climates — a long and beautiful coastline, exquisite deserts and high mountain forests. This variety comes with challenges for the teams who work to maintain the infrastructure. The skill, materials and equipment required to deliver on the promise of good roads is where the team at APS really shines. Etnyre International is proud to be selected to provide many of the tools used in this endeavor.

The mountainous regions have unique issues, where heavy snow fall that measures in feet requires extensive snowplow activity. This coupled with tire chains, snow melt in spring and dry hot summers take their toll on our asphalt surfaces. One of the preferred preservation treatments is a process called Cape Sealing. This is where a chip seal is applied then with a Slurry or Microsurfacing. The combination of these two fantastic treatments result in a durable surface that sheds water, protects from UV oxidation and delivers positive friction with a smoother, more pleasant ride surface. The rich black finish combined with fresh line striping results in safer roads for the residents who drive these routes daily.

In the mountainous region of El Dorado County (at elevations of 6,000 feet or more), American Pavement Systems performed a combination of treatments including a Cape Seal operation using distributors and chip spreader equipment from Etnyre’s BearCat division and microsurfacing machines from Etnyre’s RoadSaver product line.
The system is fast and has a minimal impact on traffic patterns, which are additional benefits to these surface treatments. Residents are minimally affected by the required work and gain new roads in the process. Traffic can be returned to the chip seal surface almost immediately after the chip has been placed. When microsurfacing is applied, there is typically a one-hour delay before traffic is released; however, due to its catalytic nature, this can be shortened to as little as five minutes with straight run traffic.

In the photo above, we can see the chip seal process where the hot bitumen (liquid asphalt) is sprayed with precise rates on the existing surface. This process places the “glue” that will hold the rock (chips) in place. The distributor truck applies the heated bitumen just prior to the application of chip using BearCat’s rate control system. This delivers the best adhesion of the chips to the road surface.

Quickly after the hot bitumen is applied, a machine called a chip spreader drops a controlled volume of rock on the bitumen. The chipper is a self-propelled machine that is fed by a dump bed or live bottom truck. As one load is emptied another quickly takes its place to feed the chipper and keep the process flowing. The metered distribution of rock is then pushed into the hot liquid with rubber tire rollers. The result is a clean aggregate surface with a moisture barrier to help keep water out of the road base while providing a durable wear course. A sweeping process occurs after the bitumen has cured; this removes the excess rocks that did not imbed into the glue. This alone is a very good treatment with an average life of five to seven years.

However, as shown at the bottom of the page, APS applies a Cape Seal of microsurfacing. This process is catalytic in nature with aggregates consisting of a variety of smaller particles. These are then blended with a specific asphalt emulsion and other ingredients in precise proportions. The mixture is extruded from the rear of Etnyre’s RoadSaver into an auger box that spreads the material on the surface while metering the application to a desired thickness. The speed of this process and the durability of the treatment makes this an attractive solution in the ongoing battle of preserving our roads.

Cape Seal of microsurfacing over chip seal adds an additional five to seven years (average) to the surface resulting in 10 to 14 years of extended road life. The use of preservation treatments results in better quality and safer roads at a lower cost to the taxpayer, as opposed to the old “worst first” process of waiting until a road has failed before addressing the issue.

The projects and products American Pavement Systems provide to the residents up and down the state of California are always of the highest quality. Etnyre is extremely grateful to APS that they have chosen the RoadSaver and BearCat products to deliver on this commitment of excellence.

Etnyre, a family-owned business, has been building machinery with factories across the U.S. for the last 126 years. Etnyre provides machinery for a wide range of asphalt preservation processes. Visit www.etnyre.com to view the full line of equipment available from Etnyre International.