Press release from Indiana Department of Transportation (Franklin County, Ind.) - Indiana Department of Transportation maintenance personnel plan to chip seal a 2.8-mile section of U.S. Highway 52 south of Brookville—weather permitting—after the holiday weekend. INDOT Aurora Subdistrict crews hope to apply the pavement preservation surface treatment on Monday, July 6 starting at Blue Creek Road. They will work south, then turnaround and chip seal the northbound lane. This section of U.S. 52 will be closed—except to emergency vehicles and residents—during the entire day. Motorists can detour around the U.S. 52 closure via Interstate 74 and State Road 229. On Tuesday, INDOT crews will sweep away loose aggregate under traffic. They will return later to apply a fog seal once the chip seal application has cured. Chip seals coat the highway with liquid asphalt—sealing pavement cracks and protecting the roadbed from harmful ultraviolet rays. This extends service life and lowers overall maintenance costs. Small chips of limestone are used to cover the asphalt—choking it from spraying vehicles or sticking to tires. The aggregate chips also restore surface friction for improved skid resistance and driver safety. Chip seals/fog seals are extremely cost-effective. Every $1 spent saves $6 to $14 in highway expenditures later. For area highway information, monitor social media sites: www.Facebook.com/INDOTSoutheast and Twitter @INDOTSoutheast. Verify travel plans at TrafficWise: http://www.trafficwise.in.gov.