Conventional Surfacing

Resurfacing is designed to restore the surface profile of a road, usually for rideability and drainage purposes and to provide improved texture and skid resistance.  The resurfacing usually takes the form of Inlay or Overlay.

Inlay is where the old surface is planed off and replaced by a new one.  This can also involve the base layers to give additional strength.  This is normally done where the existing surface has failed badly and could not support a new surface or where restraints such as kerb levels, accesses etc prevent the road level being raised. Inlay is most common in urban situations.

Overlay consists of adding material on top of the existing road to improve the profile and add strength and is more common in rural situations. As well as overlaying the surface localised reconstruction may be required before the road is overlaid. The most common material currently used is stone mastic asphalt (SMA) along with bitumen macadam and hot rolled asphalt. The laid thickness is normally between 25-50 mm.