Advanced Paving Systems Inc. of Hammonton, N.J., tonight will begin a $1.75 million microsurfacing project on Interstate 78 in Berks and Lehigh counties.

The work will begin on the stretch from the Route 100 exit to the Berks County line. The project also includes patching and microsurfacing various ramps.

Work will progress over the next few weeks until reaching the Pennsylvania Route 863 exit by mid-October. Traffic restrictions will occur between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, microsurfacing involves the placement of a thin layer of blacktop to extend the life of the existing road. It is a more cost-effective highway maintenance tool, which PennDOT is employing to stretch its resources.

"Ideally this would be a full resurfacing," PennDOT District Five spokesman Ronald Young said this morning.

He said, however, the project always was scheduled as a microsurfacing project and no changes or cuts were made to the project as a result of the agency not receiving the additional transportation funding it had sought earlier this year.