Madam Speaker, I wish to speak on the issue of our policy on the effective maintenance of our roads and infrastructure, which will lead to the improvement in the quality and standard of works being undertaken by the National Works Agency, going forward. We will also re-examine, the approach to the patching and repair of our roads.
There are some five thousand (5,000) km of roads under the control of Central Government, and we will move to implement a proper maintenance programme. Maintenance work will be viewed as either Preventative Maintenance or Corrective Maintenance which includes Performance Standards, Routine Maintenance, Periodic Maintenance, Rehabilitation and Emergency Repairs.
For Performance Standards, the most effective team size, equipment, methods and procedures for performing the work will be defined for each significant maintenance work item to be utilized.
Routine Maintenance (which is preventative maintenance) is the day-to-day maintenance of our highways and will be carried out throughout the year e.g. bushing, cleaning, side drains and small repairs to pavement surfaces etc.
Periodic Maintenance (also preventative maintenance) as its name implies, will be carried out periodically, usually at intervals of a number of years and will include resurfacing of the pavement (re-gravelling, resealing or overlaying). It is important to note that we are dealing with very old infrastructure, and over the years, inadequate funding to satisfy the needs of not only our main roads but also some of our secondary roads.
Rehabilitative Maintenance (corrective maintenance) will be carried out when a particular road element has reached a stage where, despite routine maintenance, it does not fulfill the function for which it was originally intended.
Emergency Repairs will be carried out following heavy damage caused by floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters.
We will have to establish the updated conditions of each road. This will be done by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other methods to audit the conditions of the roads. The last Road Condition Survey was done in 2014.
The Planning Department through its Road Planning Unit, will urgently commence CONDITION SURVEYS on all the roads under Central Government control. This has to be done before we can put in place a realistic maintenance programme and will allow for the necessary funding to be sourced and prepared.
We will put in place a National Road Service Improvement Programme. The first aspect of routine maintenance is roadside activities. We will begin with initial clean-up, de-bushing, drain and culvert cleaning.
This will cover our A-Roads, B-Roads (secondary roads) and C-Roads (tertiary roads which total approximately 2,500km). These are normally in the worst condition.
Routine Maintenance must begin on day two on all newly rehabilitated roads, followed by regular inspection. The works of the National Works Agency must be dovetailed with that of the National Water Commission.
The National Works Agency can not complete a project and the National Water Commission comes along shortly afterward to dig up the roads. There must be planning and co-ordination between both agencies so that this practice is a thing of the past. The two agencies however, have begun collaborating and this will be strengthened.
All rehabilitation should have a maintenance component beyond the defect liability period. Pavement distress accumulates as asphalt pavements age and they receive a daily pounding by traffic. If timely maintenance isn’t performed, distresses are compounded. Cracks become potholes and potholes become craters.
We will revamp the training sessions for our contractors on methods and procedures to maintain and preserve asphalt pavements. The cost of addressing minor deficiencies is much less than addressing major deficiencies. We have to do road maintenance when the roads are in fair-to-good condition, rather than waiting until they are in poor condition.
We will embark on a programme of crack sealing. A good time to do crack sealing is when the road surface is in fair to good condition. Along with proper drainage, crack sealing is probably the single most important maintenance activity. Most pavement distress can be related to intrusion of water into the pavement structure. If water is kept out of the pavement, the majority of distresses can be stopped or delayed.
Crack filling is done with liquid asphalt, cutbacks and asphalt emulsion and is considered temporary work.
We will also be seeking to do more full-depth and deep patching. The material for the patching will include hot mix asphalt, asphalt emulsion mixes, stockpile patching mix and proprietary mixes with special blends of aggregate and modified binders.
Full-depth patching is the removal of the entire pavement surface layer, regardless of its thickness, over the patching area while deep patching is the removal of four inches or more of the pavement surface.
In full-depth patching, the material in the repair area will be removed to the depth necessary for reaching a firm surface. This means oftentimes removing some of the sub-grade. A full-depth patch may even require some additional drainage.
The excavation is extended at least one foot into the good pavement surrounding the patching area. Patches would be square-edged and cuts rectangular in shape without having varying lengths or widths within the patch area. If the width of the patch is near the width of the lane, a full patch may be best because the contractor can use standard paving equipment rather than handwork and eliminate extraneous longitudinal joints.
A pavement saw makes fast and clean cuts. After the material is removed and the patch area is cleaned, an asphalt tack coat will be applied to the vertical faces of the patch.
Proper compaction is a critical factor in producing a permanent patch. Proper supervision from the N.W.A. staff will be a critical factor in the effort to carry out proper patching.
There is merit in reintroducing for low traffic volume roads, double surface dressing and spray patching to complement the patching programme. We will explore at a ratio of 75% at contracting these works as against 25% in-house.
There will be no further road construction or rehabilitation without a comprehensive drainage system. We will consider concrete for certain C-Roads and double surface dressing for regular C-Roads that are low volume roads with kerb and channel, “V” drains and “U” drains. It will be necessary to discuss with quarry operators, the production of the right size aggregates for double surface dressing i.e. 3/8” and 5/8”
Hot mix being transported to site must be properly covered, even with double or triple covering, to retain the heat content and temperature. On-site tests must be done on the arrival of the hot mix before it is used.
Job mix design is critical, therefore our Quality Control representative is mandated to visit every batching plant supplying hot mix to the National Works Agency and sample all materials in the stockpile frequently.
The Agency will conduct refresher training course tailored for its patching contractors including traffic management.
Performance standards will be set from the beginning. A contractor cannot patch more than a specified square measurement per day and this must be monitored by the National Works Agency staff. Proper marking must be done before cutting and deep cuts will not be left opened, but will be temporarily filled with material until the day of patching.
Closer supervision will be done by the N.W.A. to ensure that the quality thickness of the completed patch is in keeping with the contract, otherwise payment will be withheld.
There will have to be proper compaction of the marl base before any patching is done, and the team will ensure that the asphalt is also fully compacted.