"New Seal" ....my arse...

[Ulsterkiwi]

Wife and I have been having a blast riding around the far north and were commenting on the lack of roadworks.
A few kms north of Dargaville we came on several stretches where that poxy ridiculous damnable excuse for a road surface fix hot bitumen and chips had been used. One in particular was completely ridiculous. Riding at 20kph it was like being shot at in Ramadi. The chips were absolutely everywhere hitting our legs bodies and helmets
We stopped in Dargaville and I spent an hour pulling sticky stone chips jammed everywhere in the bikes. Swingarms, chain guards, motors, dashboards, forks, foot pegs even the brake calipers were loaded up, fkn dangerous!
Mad as hell! Why do TPTB insist on such a shitty idea that only serves to make the roads more dangerous, especially in the heat at this time of year when the bitumen is n ver going to cure. It's about as sealed as Trump's mouth.
Aaarrrrrghhh!!!!!!!!!


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[Blackbird]

Better have a chat with your mate at NZTA

[george formby]

Welcome to Northland! Most of the roadworks on the East coast were pushed out prior to Christmas, pre holiday rush I guess.

Tar bleed and gravel on the road are to be expected up here. PITA. Lucky you did not hit the dark brown scoria. It's invisible until you hear it pinging or catch a slide.

Getting the tarry little bits of gravel out of the shock is a Mensa exercise.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Why do TPTB insist on such a shitty idea that only serves to make the roads more dangerous, especially in the heat at this time of year when the bitumen is n ver going to cure. It's about as sealed as Trump's mouth.
Aaarrrrrghhh!!!!!!!!!

Its the cheapest way of doing it.

[swbarnett]

Do you have photos? Personally, I think whoever authorised this crap should be done for wilful damage.

[grbaker]

NZTA could really do with a Issues or Complaints web page... but ye can link them to you conversations on Facebook.

[Tazz]

It's bloody amateur. A lot of folks on here just write it off as a 'hazard of riding' but to me it is shoddy bloody work that wouldn't be put up with in other industries. My neighbour is a road contractor who gets irate about some of the piss poor work other crews do which shows the problem is definitely known within the industry.

[Black Knight]

My observation oop Norf is that the loose gravel is not swept-Fulton Hogan or Transfield (depending on who has the contract)leave the loose gravel in place and let passing traffic do the "sweeping",it takes about 2 weeks to clear on some roads.A rant to the contractors Roading Manager sometimes helps,especially if you threaten that the next call will be to the Local Council followed by one to NZTA.

[chainsaw]

Not only do the contractors in Nelson / Tasman fail to sweep up but they also have an annoying proclivity to put patches on corners in the worst place for motorcyclists and they leave the patches about 50 cm proud of the main surface - well it feels like 50 cm !

[old slider]

Seems to be prevalent in most of the NI, the quality of any resealing work has certainly reduced around central NZ , each year it seems to get worse, if that's possible. I presumed it was due to cost cutting with possibly having a tender process in place, rather than getting high quality work.

[Ulsterkiwi]

I should have taken photos but to be honest I was so pissed off after spending all that time trying to clean the mess up I just wanted away from it all.
I had to pull all the luggage off the bikes, was up to my elbows with bitumen and my tools were covered in the shit as well and it was stinking hot, my temper was frayed. Fortunately there was a well stocked BP down the street where I got a tub of cleaner and got cleaned up before putting everything back together and gearing up again.
I also think complaining will be like arguing with Cassina, it makes you more frustrated and nothing changes


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[Ocean1]

Seems to be prevalent in most of the NI,

I had to wait 10 min once, down mid-south somewhere while they re-surfaced the road. The bitumen truck was just finishing as we arrived so we all parked up an watched as they laid the chip. The results were rolled with a big rubber roller and that was it, done.

I expected chips flung in all directions, but there was none at all, looked like every chip had contacted bitumen and staid there, bugger all bitumen could be seen at all and zero loose chip on top. We rode on unscathed, near perfect job, so it can be done properly.

This NEVER happens in the north, there's invariably shit from arsehole to breakfast, chip flying everywhere for days after and dog knows how much damage to paint. Typically there's holes in it needing patches fairly quickly too, like the brand new Haywards hill surface, chip seal directly on basecourse, a month later: holes everywhere.

I have to say that I have had some luck with holding the contractors responsible though. Once the whole road outside work was resurfaced, and every car leaving that night ended up with bitumen spread all over the paintwork. A call to the council had a team of 5 or 6 contractor employees cleaning cars in the company car park for the next two days.

[swbarnett]

Typically there's holes in it needing patches fairly quickly too, like the brand new Haywards hill surface, chip seal directly on basecourse, a month later: holes everywhere.

Part of Mill Rd. near Bombay (main road from Pukekohe and the best route to the motorway) was resealed about a year or so ago. Loose chip straight on the old surface. I think, from memory, that there were holes in it the next day. They had to reseal the whole stretch again a couple of weeks later. They must've been torn a new one because the second surface is still there and is still somewhat acceptable.

[WristTwister]

This is what happens when they give the contract to the lowest bidder.

It only takes two trucks, one tipping hot asphalt out the back, the second tipping gravel. Done by lunchtime.

[swbarnett]

It only takes two trucks, one tipping hot asphalt out the back, the second tipping gravel. Done by lunchtime.

Yeah, it seems like the difference between this and a proper job may just be the use of a decent roller.