Saw and Seal
Saw and seal should be considered as an option for controlling cracking on new bituminous pavements, bituminous overlays of jointed concrete pavement and selected overlays of bituminous pavements. As with any other preventive maintenance technique, project selection is critical to the success of saw and seal.
Saw and seal should not be used in the following situations:
- Overlays on jointed concrete pavement (JCP) with a high frequency of mid-panel cracks (>20%) or badly deteriorated cracks.
- Overlays of JCP with badly deteriorated joints and/or significant patching at or near the joints.
- Overlays on bituminous pavements with meandering transverse cracks.
- Overlays on previously overlaid concrete pavements where the cracks at the depth to be milled are badly deteriorated or stripped.
- Overlays on bituminous pavements with severe load related distress such as alligator cracking, potholes or severe stripping related distress.
Joint Spacing/Locations
Spacing locations and reservoir dimensions are given in Technical Memorandum 98-06-MRR-03, Bituminous Saw and Seal Recommendations.
Do not saw within 48 hours of placing the wearing course. Sawing fresh bituminous pavements can cause damage to the joint edges leading to poor sealant adhesion and joint spalling.
Perform saw and seal after the final wearing course is placed. If the wearing course is not placed until the year after the binder and/or base, review the pavement condition the following year to determine the extent of cracking that has developed. If no cracking has developed, saw and seal as planned. If cracking has developed, consider if saw and seal is warranted based on the amount and severity of the cracking. If not, Mn/DOT recommends rout and sealing instead.
Technical Memorandum 98-06-MRR-03 also provides saw layouts sat intersections.
Cost
Estimated costs for saw and seal can be obtained from the Mn/DOT Pre-letting Services Section.
2001 unit price for saw and seal: $1.25 – 1.50 per lineal foot
Sealants
Information
about sealant types and specifications is given in Technical
Memorandum No. 01-18-MRR-04, Properties, Inspection, Sampling, and
Acceptance of
Hot Poured Joint and Crack Sealants.
For more information
Mn/DOT Office
of Materials and Research
Phone: 651-779-5592
Roger Olson
roger.olson@dot.state.mn.us
Phone: 651-779-5517
Jerry Geib
gerard.geib@dot.state.mn.us
Phone: 651-779-5937
