Road repairs that don't quite work

[slofox]

Pootled out to Kawhia this morning - first time in about a year. And came across various road hazards...as follows:

1). There are three slips along the way that reduce the road to a single lane. Well posted and no big deal.

2). The usual fuckwit in a 4x4 who owns both lanes of the road at all times and is happy to run into a nything else on the road regardless of whether he is in his own lane or not. Nothing unusual here.

3). A little white doggie running all over the highway in the middle of nowhere. Still there on the way back. Managed to miss him too. Twice.

4). Heaps of corrugations in corners. Also pretty normal on that road.

5). And the title problem - road repairs that don't quite work.


This is an issue I see on many local roads. Usually it is when a new top coating of chipseal is laid down over existing seal. Apart from always leaving some loose chip on the surface, I see many areas where after a mere few weeks, the new top layer flakes off in places thereby creating an uneven surface, often enough worse than the road was before. These bald patches I refer to as "road eczema" since it looks a bit like patchy skin. Typically it happens in corners where tyre pressure on the road is highest, what with cornering forces etc. The bits that fall off seem to accumulate between the two main wheel tracks, adding to the amount of loose chip that needs to be navigated.

I'm not sure what the answer to this might be apart from ripping the road right up and relaying the seal. But I daresay costs would knock this idea on the head. Plus it would take a lot longer as well. All the same, I can't help but wonder just how the economics stack up. Given that the patched up seal seems to erode so quickly, what is the point of doing the stop-gap job in the first place? Should we maybe do the job properly rather than have to repeat the repair at regular intervals?

Comments welcome, 'specially from anyone who knows about road repairs.

[FJRider]

In most occasions ... the amount money spent on road repairs on any road ... is usually dependant on traffic volume on THAT road ...

The other issues you mentioned ... much the same as any other part of NZ ...

[unstuck]

One day they will learn that they have to lay a proper foundation for roads in nz. Poor quality roads I guess are just part and parcel of living in such a small country, without the finances needed to do the job properly in the first place. I have noticed in southland since moving here 18 odd yrs ago that the roads are becoming a lot worse with the amount of milk tankers on the roads.

[cheshirecat]

Its all perfectly legit. Designed to keep traffic speeds down with an especually large sprinkling of chip on our favourite corners and braking points. As long as you're wearing Hi Viz even small white fluffy things will see you.

[avgas]

'specially from anyone who knows about road repairs.

Its contracted out. They make more money the more they repair.

But have a long hard look at the COMPANIES that do the repairs. Where were they 20 years ago? Where are they now? What have they done between then and now? How expensive is the roading repair bills in NZ?

After a while you will see the point that joins the dots. Needless to say, NZ is not getting a fair deal, and the problems as you noticed will not go away.
That is all I can say without incriminating people.

[Zamiam]

It's one of my pet grips as well and appears to be pretty wide spread. Never happened in the old days so is either shit workmanship or poor product. Our roads are getting progressively worse but hey speed kills no need to fix the roads.

[phill-k]

Wouldn't it be bloody nice if one of the insurance companies that pay out on expensive bikes that get binned by the issue of poor / negligent repair and the leaving of pee gravel such that it creates an unnecessary hazard actually took legal action against the relevant council & contractor.
I was told by a group of said contractors that as they are actually responsible for the eczema as mentioned above for a period of time often just doing minimal sub prep and dealing with the possible future breakdown of the surface is more cost effective than doing a proper job of the sub base.

[unstuck]

Never happened in the old days so is either shit workmanship or poor product.

There was never the same volume of traffic in the old day, vehicle numbers and weights have increased. Roads that may of been fine in the 60's and 70's would be destroyed by the traffic these days.

[Zamiam]

There was never the same volume of traffic in the old day, vehicle numbers and weights have increased. Roads that may of been fine in the 60's and 70's would be destroyed by the traffic these days.

Didn't mean that long ago :-) Valid points BUT the machinery and knowledge should have improved as well. The seal is peeling off on straights not just corners so wouldn't have thought your points were the cause .

[2Seat_Terror]

'They' recently covered most of our cul-du-sac in the loose rough gravelly stuff. This annoys me as there was nothing wrong with the pre-existing SMOOTH seal. Also I do mean most... they didn't bother to do the bulb at the end (because they had parked machinery there?) and just covered around a parked car, so there's a gap there, too. Waste of time and money, and just annoys the residents, especially the motorcyclist!

But I too get frustrated and the frequent re-covering of roads with poor quality seal. Do it once, do it right already!

But point taken... we live in a consumer society where money is made by doing things over and over.

[unstuck]

Its not like NZ hasn't got the materials for building good roads, the place is loaded with rock and gravel.

[cheshirecat]

the place is loaded with rock and gravel.

, yes and most of it on the roads.

[oneofsix]

Bring back the Ministry of Works

[avgas]

if you look very carefully they will do the same bit of road every 18 months or so. Even if it has no traffic.
Just saying.

[avgas]

Bring back the Ministry of Works

Seconded.
While MOW had bad points........seems we get them regardless of what govt dept are in charge. At least with MOW stuff got done, and kids learnt skills with no student loan.