Pembrokeshire’s annual road surface dressing programme is set to start at the beginning of May.

The works will be carried out by Pembrokeshire County Council’s Engineering Works division, throughout the whole of the county.

The operation for the North will start from St Davids and work towards Crymych.

Surface dressing involves a layer of bitumen being sprayed on to the road surface, followed by one or more layers of hard stone chippings.

Once the dressing has settled down after two or three days, the surplus chippings are then swept up by a mechanical sweeper.

The process restores a good skid resistance to smooth or slippery roads, and prevents water from seeping into the road foundation and weakening it, reducing the chances of potholes developing.

Advantages include that it is up to ten times cheaper than other methods of restoring road surfaces and traffic can be allowed to run on the new surface almost immediately, avoiding lengthy closures.

Drivers need to travel very slowly on the newly laid surface to prevent chippings being dislodged, and inconsiderate motorists driving too fast can cause chippings to be thrown up which can damage other vehicles and property.

To be successful, surface dressing relies on warm dry weather, and work is carried out from May to September.

This ensures that physical changes to the bitumen take place and the chippings become embedded into the road surface which ensures long term stability of the new surface.