Hannibal’s chip-seal program, which began last summer, may be short-lived, according to Mark Rees, the city’s director of public works.
“We haven’t exactly decided to chip seal next year. We’re considering what we’re seeing out there right now,” he said.
Rees, who was a proponent of starting the street treatment program last year, admits the results were not what he had envisioned.
“We’re seeing a lot of loss of aggregate and that wasn’t supposed to happen. These chips are supposed to stay embedded in the asphalt and less than one season away we’re seeing way, way too much of it disappearing,” he said.
Rees has encountered different theories regarding why Hannibal’s chip-seal program had problems.
“In talking with some of the experts they are telling us it’s very important to get the chips down as soon as possible after that hot oil is sprayed and get those chips embedded soon thereafter. With what we witnessed that might not have been happening as fast as it should have,” he said. “A consulting engineer in the area told me not to beat myself up too much over this because every once in a while you get a bad year of oil. I’ve put a call into Missouri Petroleum to see if they have experienced anything like that.”
For additional details, see the Friday, March 19, edition of the Courier-Post.
Hannibal, MO —
