Slurry seal repairs worry residents

LISA ADAMS/The Acorn REPAIRED OR NOT?-City officials in Westlake Village are telling motorists and homeowners not to worry about the initial appearance of slurry sealing local asphalt roadways like this one on Regents Court in First Neighborhood. The process takes time.

Some residents of First Neighborhood in Westlake Village have expressed concern about the condition of streets after new blacktop appeared in their neighborhood.

Michael Berry claimed that the asphault was eroding where vehicle tires had dug right through the material.

"In the morning, you could see the imprint of tires on the street where the car sunk right into the blacktop," Berry said.

Berry called the city of Westlake Village and spoke to one of the engineers who dismissed his concern. The city representative told Berry the problem was from cars with power steering that had dug into the blacktop.

Berry was unhappy with that explanation."That’s a very cavalier attitude," he said.

Berry specifically referred to Regents Court where, after only two weeks, there were grooves in the street from trucks.

"I think the company they hired is doing a terrible job on this," Berry said.

According to Mark Wessel, deputy city engineer for Westlake Village and a representative of Willdan Associates, the street improvement wasn’t blacktopping.

It’s called a slurry sealing, which is done for two reasons: (1) To replace the fine asphalt and aggregate and (2) To seal the street surface.

Wessel explained that the aggregate consists of large and smaller pieces of rocks in a controlled and designed mix to make a dense material. The asphalt oil penetrates the aggregate and binds it all together.

"Over time, on the surface the real fine material, the smallest aggregate or sandy material, gets worn away. If you see a street that hasn’t been maintained, it will look gritty or have a rougher texture. The slurry seal is meant to replace the small aggregate material and give it a smooth surface once again," Wessel said.

Wessel mentioned that one of the enemies of a paved street is moisture that penetrates the surface and lead to chuck holes.

Wessel said that slurry sand and asphalt oil are spread over the street and when the water evaporates, the material cures and hardens.

It’s usually ready to drive on in just a few hours.

The hotter it is, the faster it cures, according to Wessel.

"But the curing process continues throughout a month’s time, so it will continue getting harder for the next several weeks," Wessel said.

For the most part, a street is closed for a few hours, but Wessel admitted that the slurry material is vulnerable to vehicles with power steering.

"This will cause the grinding of the material and tear it up a little bit," Wessel said.

Wessel also said that in some cul de sac areas there were wheel paths where cars and heavier vehicles such as garbage trucks made marks.

"Most of those that we saw were more cosmetic. It didn’t effect the slurry. It was just on the surface," Wessel said.

Overall, Wessel said the city is happy with the work the contractor did. He went on to explain that slurry seal is a difficult job to do because it affects so many homeowners.

"It’s hard to do an entire neighborhood without inconveniencing the residents," Wessel said.

He believes the contractor did an excellent job of addressing the special needs of city residents. "They were moving in or moving out and we worked with a number of residents to schedule the time the street would be closed and reopened. At one point, we saw the city inspector helping someone carry their groceries in because they couldn’t drive on the road," Wessel said.

Wessel said the contractor was very professional and responsive to residents.

"We coordinated with them up front. We try to achieve a much higher standard for working in Westlake Village," Wessel said.

"It’s not black paint and it’s not as easy of a process as it appears to be," Wessel said.

The contractor is scheduled to return later this month to finish an area near the White Oak Elementary School and any specific patching needs will be addressed at that time.