Summer Roadwork

During the summer, routine maintenance is scheduled to limit the impacts of sun and water by repairing cracks, patching the pavement and applying a slurry seal.

A slurry seal is the application of water, asphalt emulsion, aggregate (small, crushed rock) and additives to existing pavement. This method is used to preserve and protect the underlying pavement structure.

This work is weather dependent. If it rains, work will be rescheduled. Check the roadwork map to see where crews are working.

Maintenance steps

Preparation

• Cracks in the pavement are sealed with an adhesive sealant.
• Patch repairs are made where areas of the pavement have failed.
• Lane striping or markers are removed approximately 7 days before the slurry is applied and replaced soon after.

Clean sweep

• Street must be clear of all vehicles.
• The day the work is scheduled, the street is cleaned with street sweepers before the seal work begins.

Slurry Seal

• The slurry seal is applied to the entire street.
• The seal takes 4-8 hours to dry. It is important to stay off the road during the dry time. The road will continue to improve as traffic rolls in the new seal.

Work hours

• Mid-June through August
• Work hours: 7:00 am-5:00 pm

Temporary road closure

• The street will be closed to all traffic. 
• 24-48 hours before work begins, “No Parking” signs are placed on your street. The signs will include the dates of construction.

Please note: Vehicles parked on the street during construction will be towed. Every effort is made to contact residents prior to the construction date. If your vehicle is towed, contact the Gresham Police Department at 503-618-2318.

Notification

• A postcard is mailed to residents prior to scheduled work. 
• Postcard notices are sent to residents two weeks prior to scheduled work.
• Final notices (door hangers) are placed at your door 2 days before crews begin work.

Garbage service

The City is coordinating work with local garbage haulers. If work is scheduled on your garbage day, we recommend putting your roll carts out early to allow haulers to collect garbage prior to road work.

Coming soon

For more information contact the Department of Environmental Services at 503-618-2525.

Hot tar is poured into or above a crack in the pavement to prevent water from entering the base layer. 

Newly applied chip seal will shed rock for several weeks; this is normal and street sweeping will remove the excess gravel.

 At first, chip seal has a rougher surface than asphalt, but it will get smoother over time as vehicles drive on it and will look and feel like asphalt.

Benefits 

• Extends the life of the road
• Improves traction
• Helps reduce water damage
• Adds durability to the surface
• Cost effective

Notification and street closures 

• Residents living on streets scheduled for chip seal will receive information and instructions in the mail.
• Signs are placed 24 hours in advance of chip seal work.
• On-street parking is not allowed the day a street is scheduled for chip seal.
• Street-parked vehicles will be towed at the owner’s expense on construction days. 
• Towed vehicle information is handled through the Gresham Police Department: 503-618-2318.

Inlay is used when the road has a solid foundation, but needs new layers of asphalt.   Inlay replaces failed streets by grinding down the top asphalt layers using a milling machine.  The ground asphalt is removed using dump trucks and hauled to recycling or other disposal sites.  New asphalt is then laid by paving machines and rolled into place. Once complete, the road surface provides many years of serviceability.

Benefits

• Removes any cracks, ruts and imperfections
• Restores and extends the life of the road
• Helps the road last longer by preventing damage to the road base
• Smooth road surface 

A slurry seal protects, preserves and extends pavement life.

• A slurry seal is a liquid mixture of asphalt and aggregate spread over the surface of the street.
• Slurry seal is weather-dependent and may be rescheduled if conditions are not dry.

Benefits

• Extends the life of the road
• Corrects loss of asphalt surface
• Fills minor voids and depressions

Construction details 

Advance notice of slurry work in the neighborhood is mailed to residents and businesses.

• Slurry seal is applied during the day, Monday through Friday.
• The City hires independent contractors to do the work.
• Streets will be closed to all traffic until the seal is completely cured. Curing takes two to five hours depending on weather conditions.
• No Parking barricades will be set up 24-48 hours before slurry seal work. 

Micro surfacing is a preventative treatment that covers the surface of the road with a thin layer of liquid asphalt mixture.

• It is a quick-drying treatment often used on arterials and high traffic volume roads to keep traffic delays to a minimum.
• The procedure is weather-dependent and is often scheduled during dryer months.

Benefits 

• Extends life of the road
• Increases skid resistance
• Fills ruts and minor imperfections
• Improves the surface
• Minimal traffic disruption
• Cost effective

Construction details 

• The City hires an independent contractor to do the work.
• The contractor will need unrestricted access to the street.
• Garbage pick-up and mail delivery may be adjusted to allow for unrestricted access to the street.
• The street will remain closed until the street has cured completely.
• Street parking will not be allowed during the micro surfacing treatment. No-parking signs will be placed on affected streets 24 hours in advance.  Vehicles will be towed at the owner’s expense.
• Towed vehicle information is handled through the Gresham Police Department: 503-618-2318.

Full depth reclamation is a construction method to rebuild failed streets by recycling the materials of the existing road. 

Because the materials are used on-site, the cost is 25% to 50% less than the traditional method of removing and replacing building materials.

Benefits 

• Saves time and money
• Improves pavement structure and travel quality
• Conserves resources and is environmentally friendly
• Reduces traffic impact on the community

For more information, watch our full depth reclamation video