It’s the season for reseals and work is about to start on a $7.1 million contract to reseal a total of 84km on 39 roads in the Ashburton District.

Group Manager of Infrastructure Neil McCann said the work is being done by ACL, which has a two-year timeframe to do the work.

“The longest section of reseal is 12km on Pendarves Rakaia Road, and there are several sections of about 8km each on Arundel Rakaia Gorge Road, Pole Road, Action Road and Mainwarings Road.

“Resealing is like painting a house, you do it regularly to keep the waterproof layer from cracking or delaminating. For our roads, hot bitumen is sprayed at high temperatures and then stone chip is laid and rolled in. As the bitumen cools, it holds the stone in place like glue.”

ACL will start the reseal contract on Monday 17 November, and aim to have the first summer of work completed some time in March.

The work this financial year totals $4.1m, with $3m to be spent in 2026-27.

How were the roads selected for resealing?

• Second Coating – After a new road is constructed, it is sealed with a first coat. It is necessary to put a second coat on within 2-4 years of construction to ensure the new road is fully waterproof. This is similar to a second coating when painting a house wall.
• Cracking/fatigue of ageing seal – New seal helps protect and waterproof to stop water going into the cracks.
• Old seal which is polished (smooth) and no longer providing good skid resistance – New seal helps improve road safety as it has much better texture and allows for safer braking when wet.
• Extensive digouts/patches have been carried out on the road – Reseals provide a full width seal to waterproof the new patches.

The Ashburton District has one of the five largest roading networks in the country. In the 2025-26 year, $18m will be spent on maintaining and improving sealed and unsealed roads.