City of Sedalia Notes Street Improvements in 2016

The City of Sedalia has improved more than 29 miles or 17 percent of the City’s streets during the 2016 construction season.

Currently, the City has 169 miles of streets to maintain. Street maintenance this year included: mill and overlay (53 blocks), chip and seal (395 blocks), varking or asphalting (5 blocks) and reclamation (12 blocks).

Annually, the City Council makes funding available for various infrastructure projects including an amount for street maintenance and repair.

Residents frequently ask questions about the different methods used for repair and maintenance of city streets. Mill and overlay is a street maintenance technique that removes the top layer or about 2 inches of a street through the grinding action of a large milling machine. After the top layer is removed, a new layer of pavement such as asphalt is laid on top of the existing road base. This technique allows for the extension of the street’s life in a more cost-efficient manner than complete reconstruction. Chip and seal is a process that places a coating of road oil on the existing city street followed by a layer of fine crushed rock or “chips."

A roller is then run over the chips to embed some of them into the asphalt and hold the road oil in place. The layer of crushed chips including some loose chips remain on the street to prevent “bleeding” through of the oil to other surfaces, such as vehicles. The remaining loose chips are later, within 7 to 10 days dependent on weather conditions swept up. The chip and seal process “seals” an asphalt roadway and reduces impacts from freezing and thawing during winter months which result in potholes forming and roadway surfaces failing.

Probably, the most familiar process to residents that is used by City crews is asphalting or “varking” of a street. Asphalt or “blacktop” streets are made from a mixture of bitumen or asphalt and crushed stone gravel or sand which is applied to a roadbase.

The City is testing a “reclamation” process that has been used for several years successfully by Pettis County on county roadways. This process removes a layer of existing roadway, the removed material is crushed and then the crushed material mixed or injected with a binding material is placed back on the roadway. Once replaced the “reclaimed” material may receive a new layer of asphalt.

A section of East Saline Street and a section of 27th Street were reclaimed without a new layer of asphalt being applied and a section of South Lamine Avenue from 16th to 20th was reclaimed and asphalted. The City plans to monitor these streets to determine the effectiveness of this method as it costs less per city block as compared to other maintenance techniques used by the City. The City plans to continue reviewing and testing new cost effective methods for shortand long- term maintenance of streets.

“The Public Works Department and the Street Department are to be commended for improving a large number of city street miles for fewer dollars,” said City Administrator Gary Edwards. “This serves well, both the Public and the budget.” With the close of the construction season, it is time to begin planning for winter months and snow events. As a reminder when more than two inches of snow, sleet, or ice is expected within a 24-hour period, the City will declare a snow emergency and Emergency Snow Routes are put into effect. A map detailing Snow Emergency Routes is available on the City’s website.

For questions about streets or to report a pothole or other roadway problem, please contact the Public Works Department at (660) 827-3000.