May 09, 2006 

Artesia News

Artesia pioneers cape sealing in the region


"I love the smell of hot oil in the morning." 

That was the first thing Public Works consultant Chuck Burkhardt had to say as he oversaw the steaming oil covering Thornlake Avenue on the morning of May 3.

Artesia's cape sealing project covered neighborhoods between 186th and Artesia, close to Norwalk Blvd.  The process of cape sealing is a maintenance program that maintains streets on an average of six to 10 years, as opposed to approximately one year in the case of slurry.  Artesia contracted Copp Contracting to do the job.

The cape sealing process begins with laying oil over the street, covering it with rock chips, crushing the rocks, and then sweeping away the excess material.  A few days later a slurry will be added and the street will look like a new street.

While residents stood outside taking pictures and chatting amongst themselves, a large truck poured down a layer of specially made oil that fills cracks in the existing asphalt and acts as a bonding material for the next step of the process.  Ken Morris, a driver for Copp Contracting, looking over the whole process.  Morris says he's been cape sealing for about 20 years. 

"It's not a new process," explained Morris, "but it has been getting more and more popular among the cities."

After the oil truck, another large vehicle follows behind laying down a special 'aggregate rock' that adheres to the oil.  According to Burkhardt, the aggregate rock will be about ¼ inch to 5/16" thick after the excess rock is swept away.

In the past, slurry was a common way to deal with cracked and worn streets.  However, slurry isn't much more than paint and sand, according to Burkhardt. A layer of slurry can be expected to stay for about a year.  "We're talking about six to 10 years with the cape sealing," emphasized Burkhardt.

A group from the City of South Gate's engineering team also showed up to survey the work, taking pictures and asking Burkhardt about the process.  Gary Davis, Copp Contracting's marketing expert, was there to promote the cape sealing process to these individuals.  "Cape sealing just gives cities more bang for their buck," he said.

Some residents who complained the day before also offered apologies after it became clear the process would not be as troublesome as previously thought. 

Another resident, David Munoz, was just observing and he watched the whole process very carefully.  He smiled and said, "It's very nice."

For more information, please call (562) 865-6262.
The street prior to cape sealing.
The street prior to cape sealing.
A vehicle drops a layer of oil at 190 degrees.
Specially made rock aggregate is dropped over the oil.  The rocks fill up cracks when they are crushed.
A vehicle like this one follows the rock spreading vehicle.  It impacts the rock into the oil.
A worker sweeps excess rock after the initial pouring.
Public works consultant Chuck Burkhardt oversees the cape sealing process.
The owner of Copp Contracting, David Copp, makes sure everything is running smoothly.