Paving in Alaska is expensive. Protecting that investment shouldn’t be.
Every contractor and municipal manager knows the cycle. You lay fresh asphalt in June, and by the following spring, the freeze-thaw cycle has already started to tear it apart. We see it every year, from the frost heaves on the Glenn Highway to the longitudinal cracks opening up on the Alcan.
The difference between a road that lasts 15 years and one that fails in five is simple: Maintenance.
Preventative maintenance is the single highest ROI activity you can perform on a paved surface. We can help with that by supplying the right sealants, mastics, and equipment to keep water out of the road base.
The Science of the Seal
You have to match the repair material to the distress level of the pavement. Using the wrong product is just throwing money into a hole.
We speak from experience: Sometimes a seal in Alaska doesn’t even last three months.
If you apply a standard sealant to a wide crack or a dirty surface, the first plow of the season will scrape it right off. To get a repair that actually survives the winter, you need to categorize your damage:
- Standard Crack Sealing: Best for clean, narrow cracks (less than 1 inch). This prevents water from entering the sub-base.
- Mastic Repair: Required for wide cracks, cupped cracks, or distressed areas (alligator cracking) where standard sealant would just sink or track out.
Standard Crack Sealing Solutions
For the majority of road and parking lot maintenance, hot-applied crack sealant is the standard. It remains flexible during thermal cycles, expanding and contracting with the pavement.
The choice of equipment comes down to the scale of the project and the required daily output.
Automated Sealing for Longitudinal Joints
Longitudinal joints are often the first point of failure in new pavement. Protecting them often requires a Void Reducing Asphalt Membrane (VRAM), but traditional distributor trucks are frequently too large or logistically heavy for the task.
The Cimline MA4™ offers a solution that balances professional precision with accessibility. It is a towable applicator that provides computer-rate control without requiring a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) to operate. This allows crews to take control of their joint sealing or fog seal rumble strips using packaged block material, which is far easier to stage on a job site than bulk liquid tankers
Maneuverability for Tight Applications
Large trailers can be difficult or impossible to maneuver in smaller parking lots, residential driveways, or areas with complex landscaping.
For these tighter applications, a walk-behind unit like the Gingway MA10 is often more practical. It provides the same hot-applied results without the large footprint of a tow-behind melter. It is capable of applying up to 600 lbs of sealant per shift, making it the right tool for residential driveways or “cut-in” detail work.
Solving Major Distress with Mastics
When a crack gets too wide, standard rubber sealant fails. It cannot bridge the gap. That is where Mastic comes in.
Mastic is a hot-applied, aggregate-filled polymer binder. Think of it as a flexible asphalt patch. It doesn’t just seal the crack; it structurally repairs the surface.
Repairing Wide Cracks and Alligatoring
Distressed transitions and “alligator” cracking require a material that can stand up to physical abuse. Mastic contains aggregate that provides structural resistance against tire traffic and snowplows.
Applying this material requires specialized equipment like the Cimline ME-Series™. These machines are designed to agitate the mixture, keeping the aggregate suspended in the binder so the patch remains consistent from the first pour to the last.
Surface Preparation is Critical
You cannot seal a dirty crack. If there is moss, dirt, or wet leaves in the void, the sealant will peel right out.
You need clean, dry air. We recommend using high-velocity blowers like the Little Wonder™ blowers, because they hit harder than a standard backpack unit.
- Self-Propelled Efficiency: On long stretches of road, a self-propelled unit saves operator fatigue.
- Controlled Airflow: A split-stream deflector ensures wet debris is cleared completely without blowing back onto the clean pavement.
We Ship Supplies Throughout Alaska
We maintain a rental fleet, including the Gingway MA10, for those specific jobs where you need extra capacity. However, our core role is supplying the sealant itself and helping you decide which machine makes the most sense for your permanent fleet.
Whether you are working in Anchorage, Eagle River, Fairbanks, or a remote village in the Bush, we can get pallets of crack sealant and mastic to you. We understand the unique logistics of barge schedules and air freight required to move heavy material across the state.
We are located right here in Palmer. When you are ready to map out your maintenance season, give us a call or stop by the shop. We can walk you through our current inventory and help you figure out the logistics for your next project.
