Indiana Department of Transportation maintenance crews are being scheduled to chip seal a stretch of State Road 135 in Jackson County in mid-May.

This preventative maintenance application within the Bloomington Subdistrict area is designed to seal highway pavement from moisture intrusion and harmful ultraviolet ray degradation while reestablishing an acceptable coefficient of friction, according to a news release from INDOT.

Beginning May 12, chip seal operations will begin on State Road 135 between State Road 46 at Nashville and State Road 58 north of Freetown in Jackson County.

The tentative schedule calls for four days of chip sealing along these 42.6 lane miles of north-south highway. An additional day for sweeping is slated for May 17. That stretch of the highway will be fog sealed in May.

Inclement weather would delay the schedule.

During chip and fog seal operations, flaggers are onsite to direct motorists around crews and equipment. Officials advise motorists to drive very slowly and with extreme caution on highways that have been freshly chip sealed to avoid vehicular damage from asphalt spray or loose aggregate.

Chip seal applications coat the highway with liquid asphalt, sealing pavement cracks and protecting the roadbed from harmful ultraviolet rays. This extends service life and lowers overall maintenance costs. Small chips of limestone are used to cover the asphalt, choking it from spraying vehicles or sticking to tires. The aggregate chips also restore surface friction for improved skid resistance and driver safety.

Experience shows that every $1 spent on this kind of surface treatment today saves $6 to $14 in highway expenditures later, according to INDOT.