Southside Bitumen Driveways

Bitumen, Two Coat, Chip Seal.

Bitumen is known by several different names, including Two Coat Spray Seal and Chip Seal. It comes in two main varieties.

Cutback Bitumen
This is heated so its viscosity is reduced to aid in the spraying process and rapid setting when cooling. It is primarily used on hi traffic road works allowing vehicles to drive over within hours of laying.

Cutback Bitumen is also the best choice to use on medium to steep grades where it sets quickly and holds in place. The odour is quite strong due to its high Kerosene content.

Both Cutback Bitumen and CSR Emulsion are best done intwo applications.

The first step is to spray the bitumen on the base and then cover with 14mm or 10mm stone. This stone is then covered with a second coat of Bitumen twice the rate of the first coat.

This second coat is then covered by a 7mm stone to finish. The finish stone needs to be “precoat”, which is Blue Metal stone with a Bitumen coating.

Each layer is compacted separately.

Some loose stone will be present after completion but will be minimal. The finished surface has a similar texture to exposed aggregate concrete.

Bitumen seals are very affordable, maintenance-free and can be easily recoated in the future if needed.