The Town of Middletown will be using a new method for maintaining our streets. This new process called Tar, Chip, and Fog Seal or TCS for short.  This is a multi-step process for resurfacing the roads and different than the standard milling and overlay.

The reason for this change in roadway maintenance is due to the loss of funding from the State of Maryland for road maintenance.  In 2009, the State cut the funding by 90%, which has not been restored.  This new method will save over $4,000,000 over the next five (5) years and allow us to continue to maintain our streets.

The process has three (3) steps.  The first is to spray tar on the street and cover it with a fine stone.  This allows for the tar and stone to fill in all the cracks in the roadway and other uneven voids in the road.  The second step is to come back about two to three weeks later and vacuum the road to pick up all the loose stone.  The last and final step is to fog seal the road to embed the stone into the road and provide a permanent seal to the road.

The Town engineers have researched this method and have seen examples of it being used

in Washington County and believe this is a proven method for maintaining and extending the life of the streets in Town.  

If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Town Office at 301.371.6171.

 

 

 

Below are three links to You-Tube videos on Tar Chip & Fog Seal:

The first video it the normal Tar and Chip process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liUxcddQ_6I

 The second video is the Fog Seal process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R08d4f9X43Y

The third video is an example from Austin, TX of Fog Sealing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjJ19b6il3M

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD65tYRgiLk