Roads Resurfacing and Surface Dressing

Surface Dressing

We carry out an annual programme of surface dressing between May and September. Our proposed schemes are identified following an annual condition inspection of the road network. Our proposals are notified to the Community Councils each year. Surface Dressing provides a cost effective treatment to seal the road surface and provide improved resistance to skidding. A film of bitumen emulsion is sprayed onto the road surface onto which stone chippings are spread and rolled. Ideally dressings should be reapplied every 5 - 10 years depending upon traffic use and the structural strength of the road. They will reduce or eliminate ongoing maintenance costs and improve the safety of the road by providing increased grip for vehicle tyres, improving stopping distances.

Please view the data sheet for additional information on this process.

The following team are responsible for Surface Dressing Operations:

Engineer: Neil Hutcheson

Tel: 01595 744882
Email: neil.hutcheson@shetland.gov.uk

Surface Dressing Foreman: John Adamson

Resurfacing

We have an ongoing programme of resurfacing in Shetland. We manufacture our own surfacing material at the Scord Quarry. Our roads, even with regular surface dressings cannot be expected to last more than about 30 years. Many of our older roads were never fully designed and simply evolved over the years. They were never constructed to any recognised design standards and their poor structural foundations often result in shorter than expected life expectancy. A good proportion of these roads are built over peat and have poor structural integrity leading to loss of shape and gradients as well as other deformations such as rutting in the vehicle wheel tracks. To ensure the long term sustainability of the road network we need to be resurfacing about 3 per cent of our network each year. The reductions in Council budgets are making this level of resurfacing increasingly difficult.

The following team is responsible for Resurfacing Operations: