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Microsurfacing is a pavement maintenance option that is a mix of aggregate, quick-set asphalt emulsion formulation, water, liquid additive, and mineral fillers. Microsurfacing can be placed in multiple lifts and be applied thicker than its parent product, slurry seal, so it offers a number of options in addition to the sealing and resurfacing features slurry seal does.

Microsurfacing is found on all types of surfaces, including interstate highways, city and residential streets, and parking lots. The microsurfacing market varies from region to region in the United States. In California, budget crunches have reduced the amount of dollars going into pavement maintenance, but municipalities still divert funds toward certain microsurfacing jobs. "In California, we will go with microsurfacing as a primary decision when we are doing work that needs to be opened up quickly to traffic or is critical structurally, in other words, you're filling ruts," says Jeff Reed, president of Valley Slurry Seal, a microsurfacing equipment and materials manufacturer in West Sacramento, CA. "The other place we would go to a microsurfacing is at night."

Equipment used in microsurfacing applications is very versatile and often doubles as slurry seal equipment. Many of the changes in microsurfacing equipment that have taken place in recent years have been evolutionary, such as increased speed, advancements in pugmill design, and improvements in reduction of noise level, which is a benefit for the operator.

Truck-mounted machines

Truck mounted microsurfacing machines are loaded at a materials site, driven to the job site, and the material is laid until the machine is empty. If more material is needed, the truck returns to the materials site for another load. On bigger jobs, truck mounted machines can work in tandem.

California Pavement Maintenance, Inc., a Sacramento, CA, company that's in the paving and pavement maintenance business, manufactures the RoadSaverII and RoadSaverII-E. The RSII-E is a machine identical to the RSII, but with a less-expensive hydraulic system. Both are capable of placing slurry seal or microsurfacing. The RSII's production rate is 4 tons plus per minute, but can be increased or decreased by the operator. Charles Soares, RoadSaver sales manager, says California Pavement Maintenance manufactures a variety of spreader boxes for the RSII, including a microsurfacing box and a rut box. The RSII features calibrated direct-drive material feeds and electronic material monitoring systems tied to infinitely adjustable flow controls. The company has also made improvements on its machines in recent years.