Riverside Asphalt Applies Plant-Based Rejuvenator

Sealcoating projects brought in enough work to keep Riverside Asphalt Services of Boston going strong when it first formed in 1980. Changes in their marketplace since then necessitated changes in the services the company offers, and Owner/President Doreen Fulmore credits Operations Manager Paul Fulmore with staying focused on a growing market. “He’s exceptionally driven, always looking for things to move the business forward. Spraying has become the backbone of the business.”

Riverside Asphalt now provides tack coat services for the larger paving contractors in Eastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire, using a fleet of distributor tanks from E.D. Etnyre, Oregon, Illinois. Their website states: “Since 1989, Riverside Asphalt Services has been applying RS-1 tack coat. We have been learning all the nuances needed to efficiently work as a tack coat application contractor here in Massachusetts.”

Eversource Gas crews had performed utility repairs and patching prior to the penetrating rejuvenator. Travis Sirrine explained that the cure time for the Delta Mist fogseal had a “little bit more accelerated absorption on the new asphalt because it was fresh, more porous, and not compacted with a 10-ton roller.”

Doreen and Paul Fulmore consistently have four distributor trucks out for the major contractors; sell RS-1 tack coat asphalt emulsion to contractors and agencies in quantities from 8,500-gallon trailer loads to 5-gallon pails; and have recently added the service of renting 250-gallon tack-wagons to contractors. Doreen pointed to the website for more detailed information:

“Riverside Asphalt is an asphalt emulsion dealer and distributor. Our primary business is to supply the local overlay contractors with tack trucks for road projects and large parking lots where a single axle truck will fit and the volume of tack to be used warrants the cost per hour for the truck. We fully know that there are any number of circumstances where it just would be too expensive for the truck and the volume of tack needed is too low to offset the costs of being there. Our tack distributor trucks are 2,000 and 3,000-gallon trucks with a drier to apply volumes of material. We do not want to do jobs where the equipment is too expensive to be there with driver/operator to be on the job. Now you get it done with your own people.”

Doreen also believes Paul’s fastidious nature garners repeat business. For example, Paul executes the private chip seal work contracts and a large portion of that work is through landscape architects who appreciate how much attention he gives to the details. He has the smaller equipment necessary to get the chip seals onto the walkways and cart paths while keeping areas clean and precise.

Eversource Gas crews had performed utility repairs and patching prior to the penetrating rejuvenator. Travis Sirrine explained that the cure time for the Delta Mist fogseal had a “little bit more accelerated absorption on the new asphalt because it was fresh, more porous, and not compacted with a 10-ton roller.”

He’s that focused about keeping the crew working during the off-season, as well, delivering coal to predominantly residential clients and hardwood firewood to a mix of homeowners and commercial/restaurant clients. Even the company’s commitment to snow removal goes beyond affixing a blade to a truck.

“We invest in training our operators in the safest and most efficient operations to assist public works agencies along with property owners in snow and ice services. Our firm participates in national organizations and continuing education programs to improve our methods of operation. Our firm also boasts a staff member that has been nationally accredited as a Certified Snow Professional (CSP), achieved by successfully passing a series of tests given by the Snow & Ice Management Association (SIMA). Our firm has and continues to participate in education programs offered by the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Wisconsin, in snow and ice management.”

Doreen also spoke of finding new and environmentally clean services to add to their arsenal. Enter the Putnam Municipality Highway Department. Putnam is one of 169 cities and towns in Connecticut, and is situated close to Riverside’s service area. Travis Sirrine, highway superintendent for Putnam, said he’s worked with Riverside Asphalt on maintenance projects in the past and turned to them in summer 2019 for a fogseal project of about three-quarters of a mile in a residential area. He explained, like many other municipalities, Putnam looks for ways to be more environmentally conscious with all operations, from washing down equipment to the overall health of the environment during pavement preservation applications. To assist with Putnam’s environmental goals, the team at Collaborative Aggregates LLC, Wilmington, Massachusetts, supplied totes of Delta Mist™ penetrating asphalt rejuvenator, and Riverside Asphalt applied a fogseal rejuvenator treatment with the liquid, plant-based material.

The roadway to be rejuvenated had been paved four seasons prior to this preservation work, according to Sirrine.

Riverside Asphalt sells RS-1 tack coat asphalt emulsion to contractors in quantities from 8,500-gallon trailer loads to 5-gallon pails.

Eversource Gas Company workers had patched sections of the road after some utility work, and the surface was ready for sealing against freeze-thaw damage. Sirrine spoke about the favorable weather conditions on the day of the seal, stating the ambient temperature was in the high 70s to low 80s. The team at Collaborative Aggregates recommends Delta Mist is sprayed when ambient temperatures are 50 degrees F and rising.

“Most sealing processes, any kind of penetrative process, a dry, warm temperature is best,” Sirrine said. “Even with this [Delta Mist], I’d like the warmer, drier base asphalt surface to allow something to get in and adhere. Do it in nice, warm weather.”

The rejuvenator went down white and cured clear in 90 minutes, allowing a return-to-traffic in that time. No restriping was required.

Riverside Asphalt cleaned out a distributor truck and loaded it with Delta Mist. Putnam personnel swept the pavement surface one day prior to application with the Etnyre distributor. The control of each distributor nozzle helps produce a pattern as narrow as about an inch to over 12 feet wide—and any increment in between—as they adjust the spray bar. For this project, the spray bar was set for a 10-foot lane. The product sprays an almost white color, Sirrine observed, then cures clear, without obscuring pavement markings. The team didn’t have any striping to perform at the end of the job because the product allows existing marks to show through.

“We use Etnyre® distributor tanks mounted on Mack® chassis, and this combination has proven very reliable. Tanks range in size from a 2,000-gallon to an 8,500-gallon capacity. Our trucks can safely transport asphalt cements, cut back asphalts, and emulsions. Our drivers are trained and familiar with proper care and handling of liquid asphalt. All drivers have undergone a minimum of 10-hour training with OSHA.”

From left, Travis Sirrine, Putnam Highway Superintendent, and Robert VanMeter, Riverside Asphalt company representative, discuss the use of a rejuvenator to add to Riverside Asphalt’s list of services.

Sirrine and Doreen spoke of the crew’s safety with the Delta Mist product. Sirrine noted the process didn’t require heating the material and didn’t require the crew to cover storm drains, manhole covers or grates prior to spraying.

He explained that using chip seal and other sealing treatments to preserve roadways often allows the penetrants to leech through underlying surfaces or run into drains. “Some of these penetrants can leech and get into the waterways,” he said. “With this [Delta Mist fogseal], there’s no carcinogen. You’re not posing a threat. With other treatments, you have to cover the grates.”

Eversource Gas crews had performed utility repairs and patching prior to the penetrating rejuvenator. Travis Sirrine explained that the cure time for the Delta Mist fogseal had a “little bit more accelerated absorption on the new asphalt because it was fresh, more porous, and not compacted with a 10-ton roller.”

Delta Mist is an emulsified version of Delta S® rejuvenator, allowing for a spray-applied topical rejuvenating seal that is designed to penetrate the surface and soften the asphalt binder to improve cohesion and slow crack propagation. It’s designed to penetrate the asphalt pavement surface up to 3/8 inch in depth to restore the oxidized asphalt and reduce the loss of fines and aggregates. Putnam’s Highway Department expects to push out the service life of this residential asphalt pavement for another three years following the treatment. Doreen and crew expect to have an environmentally friendly asphalt pavement preservation method to add to Riverside Asphalt’s list of services.