ForConstructionPros.com

Like many road agencies across the county, Massachusetts' Town of Wilmington, the City of Methuen and the Town of Sutton must address their road maintenance needs with the limited dollars available to do so. With the help of Hingham, MA road contractor, Sealcoating Inc., the Department of Public Works for those three communities rely heavily on a preservation approach in an effort to keep their road networks in good order at a price that allows them to maximize their investment.

Don Onusseit, Wilmington's Public Works Superintendent, Jay Bonanno, Methuen's Highway Department Superintendent, and Mark Brigham, Sutton's Public Works Superintendent, all have become strong proponents of micro-surfacing road preservation primarily because it's a cost-effective approach to extending the life of good quality roads, but more importantly because it works.

Onusseit, who's been taking care of Wilmington's 115 lane miles for the past 10 years, says preservation is key to maintaining the roads under his jurisdiction with the approximate $500,000 annual budget he has to do so. While there is occasional full rehabilitation work required on some roads that have completely deteriorated, Onusseit is trying to follow a 20-year program that targets every lane mile of the road network for some type of improvement.

"We have some roads with particular deficiencies, whether its drainage, or lack of curbs and sidewalks, but we would need an annual budget of over $1 million to address all of those problems," Onusseit notes. "So we focus our attention on trying to address the major projects we have to address during the year and then use our remaining budget to improve as many lane miles possible with some type of surface treatment that corrects any existing problems, improves the ride and safety of the road, and gives us extended serviceability out of that road."

Onusseit says he tries to budget approximately $100,000 annually for micro-surfacing work to keep good roads in good condition and avoid or delay major rehabilitation work on those roads.