`Mill and Overlay' Projects Will Present Traffic Challenges Over Summer

Above, Beta Group video
illustrates the mill portion of the mill and overlay process.

If King Street was on your itinerary Tuesday, you probably noticed that the town’s DPW wasn’t kidding when they warned last week of road work starting July 5.

The Town's contractor, Massachusetts Broken Stone Company, is undertaking a Mill and Overlay project that includes King Street (from Union Street to East Central Street), East Central (from Ruggles to Lewis), Union (from Beaver to School St), and Beaver St (from the railroad tracks to I-495 overpass).

The project will continue through the summer.

For those not familiar with the term, Mill and Overlay, the website of Beta Group, a frequent consultant to the town, explains that it is “the process of grinding off the top layer of existing asphalt pavement by means of a large milling machine and replacing this layer with a new HMA [hot-mix asphalt] riding surface.” According to Beta, the typical depth of milling is between 1” and 2”, depending on the condition of the existing road surface and other factors. Additional layers are sometimes added before the topcoat to ensure smoothness.

The Contractor, Mass Broken Stone, is one of the oldest in the region, with roots stretching to the 1990s; its name derived from the fact that it was a pioneer in the technology of crushing rocks into gravel and, much more recently, added paving and road work to its offerings.

According to its website Mass Broken Stone is a MassDOT certified pavement provider.