Work Zone Wednesday: Scrub seal completed on K-51 in Morton County



A crack is shown on K-51 before the repair work.

K-51 in Morton County from the Kansas/Colorado state line east to the K-51/K-27 got a face-lift with a scrub seal followed by chip seal in June. According to Syracuse Construction Manager Larry Meyer, this was the first scrub seal project completed by District Six and only the third scrub seal completed in Kansas. 

The project was completed in just six days by Mid America Road Builders Inc. out of Platte City, Mo., at an approximate cost of $230,000. The work took six days to complete. 

Here is the crack after the asphalt emulsion oil is sprayed on the highway.

During a scrub seal, an asphalt emulsion oil is sprayed on the roadway and then “scrubbed” into the cracks with an emulsion scrub broom. Then a light-weight cover material is applied and rolled into the surface.  This is followed by a chip seal. 

Meyer was very impressed with this process as the scrub seal forced the asphalt material into the cracks sealing them better than the conventional sealing operation. In addition, the cracks were almost completely full after the chip seal on top of the scrub seal. 

The crack is filled after the scrub broom pushes the material into it..