WESTHAMPTON — When most people think of summer, they think of sunny days and beaches. When David Blakesley, Westhampton highway superintendent, thinks of summer, he thinks asphalt and gravel.
It’s construction season, which means roads across the Pioneer Valley will get a makeover, and in Westhampton, that’s Blakesley’s job. This summer he will pave 1.5 miles using blacktop asphalt and 3.2 miles using chip sealing, a significantly less costly method.
In addition to replacing potholes and bumps with a reasonably smooth surface, he says, chip sealing costs about one-third of what newly paved blacktop does.
“With any pavement, it’s all about the foundation, what’s underneath it,” Blakesley said. “This method saves a lot of money while also doing its job and keeping water out.”
The method is simple. First, a truck drives on the road pouring liquid asphalt. Then, a second truck reverses down the road dropping a carpet of small gravel stones.
Paving a one-mile road costs about $100,000, but chip sealing a one-mile road costs about $30,000, Blakesley said. This is mostly due to the amount of product needed for each method. To chip seal about 3 miles of road, Blakesley said he only needed about four truckloads of oil. To pave that same amount, Blakesley said he would need hundreds of truckloads.
Chip seal contains the same ingredients as asphalt mix. In asphalt, however, the materials are mixed together to create one concoction before being spread. Asphalt uses multiple layers of the mixture to create the paved road while chip seal requires one thin layer of asphalt liquid before laying small stones on top.
Blakesley also saves money by laying out his own stones. Instead of hiring a different company to deliver the stones and pour them, Blakesley and his team do it, saving about 50 percent of the cost. Towns all over the area use the chip sealing method, he said, but many hire an outside source to lay the stones.
Despite the low cost and the durability of this method, he said, it’s not suitable for every road. Since the public prefers to drive on smooth roads rather than gravelly ones, most high traffic roads are covered with solid asphalt.