Chip seal to begin on State Road 135

Pushed back by weather delays, Indiana Department of Transportation officials hope to begin chip seal operations on State Road 135 this week.

Maintenance crews from the Martinsville Unit are scheduled to chip seal 12 miles of State Road 135 from Nashville to Morgantown on Thursday, Monday and Tuesday, weather permitting.

This operation should begin in the northbound lane of State Road 135 a mile north of State Road 46 in Brown County and proceed to the Indian Creek bridge 0.33 miles south of State Road 252 in Morgan County.

A tentative schedule calls for a second round of chip sealing on State Road 135 between State Road 46 at Nashville and State Road 58 at Freetown. The 42.6 lane miles in Brown and Jackson counties will require four days for surface treatment.

After Nashville to Freetown, chip seal operations on State Road 135 will move to north of the west junction of State Road 252 at Morgantown to the east junction of State Road 252 at Trafalgar. The 11.8 lane miles will require two days of chip sealing.

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, according to a news release from INDOT.

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 dollar spent on this kind of surface treatment today saves $6 to $14 in highway expenditures later, according to INDOT.