Design Guide for Road Surface Dressing

Surface dressing can be used successfully on all types of roads, from a country lane which carries only an occasional vehicle, to trunk roads and motorways carrying thousands of vehicles a day. It provides a cost-effective and simple form of maintenance. Unfortunately, the attention paid to design, control, supervision and aftercare is frequently less with surface dressing than with more expensive forms of construction. This design guide provides details of the parameters used and the method employed to design a suitable surface dressing for specific conditions. It also explains the types of specifications that can be prepared with the designs; gives examples of the design process; and provides details of how to obtain the accompanying computer program and User Guide. Road Note 39 is a design guide, not a specification, but the advice it contains will be indispensable for those drawing up specifications.