Uniformat G2010

Surface-treated road

A surface-treated road has a useful life of about 10 years, the median of 17 published sources, which state 3–54 years.

Also listed as Road surface treatment, LCB surface, tar and chip, chip seal

• Confidence C
• Version 0.5.0 (permanent link)
• Reviewed 2026-10-22

This is version 0.5.0. The latest is 0.6.0.

Service life

Years in service. The band runs from the shortest to the longest life the sources state, so it shows how much they disagree, not how long 80% of units last. The line is the median of the stated lives.

Work out when yours is due for replacement · Compare with what municipalities assume

Basis

• 20 years · Amherstburg: Tangible Capital Assets Policy, Appendix A: TCA Categories, Life Years, and Thresholds, p7 · “Infrastructure - Transportation - Tar and Chip Road Surface” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 20 years · Brockton: Policy F06-2009-03 Capital Asset Amortization, p2 · “Roads - Surface - Surface Treatment” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 15 years · Greater Madawaska: By-Law 21-2025 Tangible Capital Asset Policy (Finance Policy 4-02), p16 · “Roads - Surface Treatment (LCB)” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 10 years · Grey Highlands: By-law No. 2026-052, Tangible Capital Asset Policy A09-F-03, p10 · “Surface Treatment” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 5 years · Kapuskasing: By-law No. 3103, Tangible Capital Assets Policy, p15 · “Roads Surface - Surface Treated” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 15 years · Kenora: AF-6-1 Tangible Capital Asset Policy (By-law 34-2026), p16 · “Road Network - Surface Treated” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 3–7 years · Meaford: By-law 2020-83, Tangible Capital Asset Policy, Appendix A Estimated Useful Lives, p20 · “Linear - Road Surface - Surface Treatment” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 8 years · Prince Edward: FIN-12 Tangible Capital Assets Policy, p34 · “Roads - Surface - Paved - LCB” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 10 years · Rainy River: F-9 Tangible Capital Assets Policy, p12 · “Roads - tar and Chip” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 20 years · Severn: By-law 2019-04, Corporate Policy Manual: Tangible Capital Asset Policy, Useful Life Guide, p402 · “Infrastructure - Roads - LCB Roads” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 6 years · The Blue Mountains: POL.COR.19.04 Tangible Capital Assets Policy, p12 · “Linear - Road Top - Surface Treatment” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 8 years · Trent Lakes: 5.17 Capital Asset Policy, p10 · “Roads - Surface Treatment (LCB)” (accounting life)
  Capital asset policy (amortization period). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 15–54 years · Amherstburg: Asset Management Plan Town of Amherstburg 2025, p36 · “Tar & Chip Road Surface” (planning life)
  Asset management plan (planning life). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 8 years · Bruce: Asset Management Plan 2025, Bruce County, p44 · “Road Network - Surface Treated (weighted avg EUL)” (planning life)
  Asset management plan (planning life). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 7 years · Meaford: Municipality of Meaford Asset Management Plan - Core Assets (Appendix 1 to Report CAO2022-28), p40 · “Rural - LCB Surface” (planning life)
  Asset management plan (planning life). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 10 years · Rainy River: Asset Management Plan 2025-2035, p17 · “Roads - tar and Chip” (planning life)
  Asset management plan (planning life). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.
• 7 years · Thunder Bay: Future-Ready Roadmap: Asset Management Plan Phase Three, p50 · “Roads - Chip Seal” (planning life)
  Asset management plan (planning life). Approved on text check: the label and value were found on the cited page.

How sources are chosen and recorded: sourcing policy.

Preventive maintenance

3 tasks in 3 work orders.

Download the tasks as CSV

Frequencies are ISO 8601 durations in the data (P3M = every 3 months).

Open questions

• These are Ontario accounting lives from municipal capital asset policies, not planning or observed replacement data.
• A municipal minimum standard tied to the statutory defence in s.44 of the Municipal Act, 2001; patrolling is a drive-by observation of the whole road, not a component-level inspection. Not an official version.

Know the answer? Send it with a source to [email protected].

Cite this

Citation

unfinished.one (2026). Road surface treatment, v0.5.0. https://unfinished.one/c/road-surface-treatment/v/0.5.0

BibTeX

@misc{unfinished_road_surface_treatment_0_5_0,
  title = {Road surface treatment},
  author = {{unfinished.one}},
  year = {2026},
  version = {0.5.0},
  url = {https://unfinished.one/c/road-surface-treatment/v/0.5.0},
  note = {CC BY 4.0}
}

Licence CC BY 4.0 · How to cite · JSON · Versions: 0.6.0, 0.5.0, 0.2.0, 0.1.0