ROADWORKS

Machines which tackle potholes by using infra-red technology to weld together road surfaces will be tried in Derby for three months. The aim is to prevent the city council from having to deal with another road maintenance crisis in severe winter weather and face quick-fix repairs. Derby City Council has spent more than £1m trying to get on top of a backlog of repairs and chipped in an additional £500,000 due to the damage caused by the harsh winter. The company behind the machines, Nu-phalt, demonstrated their capability to councillors and staff. Councillor Chris Poulter, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, and Matthew Holmes, deputy council leader and cabinet member for planning and environment, said they were impressed by what they saw.

Mr Poulter said, "What is great about this system is that we only have to visit the site once. At the minute we go out and mark up the site and we might do a temporary repair if it is an emergency and then go back for a more lasting repair but this machine could go out and do it all in one go." The method uses an infra-red system which heats the pothole and the edge of the road surface around it. It re-uses material cleared from the edges of the pothole in the filling. Some new material is also added before being compacted with a roller. The heating system means that the infill and the existing road surface form a weld which removes the need for a seal and stops water getting back into the hole and breaking up the filling.

The use of existing material in the repair also means the council will not have to take broken road waste to landfill, which can be costly. It also reduces carbon emissions. Simon Robson, business development manager of Nu-phalt said that in traditional repairs, carbon dioxide emissions would equate to 11 trees being felled but with their system the equivalent of just one tree. The council will be taking the system on a three-month trial which will see its teams trained up before using it. A metre-square section of permanent repair, done by cutting about the road surface, refilling it and then creating a join, currently costs the authority £50.

Nu-phalt's system would cost £35. The council said it would have to work out if the system could carry out as many repairs in the same time as the current system before determining if it would be good value. But Mr Holmes said he hoped it would mean that the council would be able to provide lasting repairs. Another system was also demonstrated. Called Velocity, it uses a high-powered hose-like system to blast out debris, add a binding liquid and spray in the asphalt to provide a very rapid repair in a matter of seconds. Mr Holmes said, "I'm very impressed with both systems and my first impression is that both may play a part in the future needs of Derby." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jun/10)

Botched road repairs are still being carried out in the city despite assurances problems with road maintenance were being ironed out, it has been claimed. Deputy Conservative group leader in the city, Mathew Holmes, said workmen had been seen putting tarmac into holes with their hands and pressing it down with their fingers. Derby City Council has put together a 12-month action plan to tackle a mounting backlog of pothole repairs. These have been allowed to build up due to the poor performance of a contract with road partners Carillion. The council said it was now confident it had improved the way the contractors were working.

Mr Holmes disagreed saying, "Workmen arrived at Manor Road in Chellaston this week to repair holes but residents have reported that at least one repair was carried out by a workman using his fingers to press the tarmacadam down. The repair programme has descended into a chaotic short-term programme of basic emergency patching. In my view, the council's current action plan agreed by cabinet this month merely confirms what we already knew, that the Derby Roads Partnership isn't currently fit for purpose and that it requires a large amount of extra funding to address even the most basic day-to-day repairs year-on-year."

Councillor Lucy Care, the cabinet member responsible for road maintenance, said she had not seen this type of repair happening before and an investigation was taking place. She said, "I wasn't aware of it until this particular example was highlighted and I have been told this incident will be investigated and the relevant staff spoken to, but this is not common practice, as far as I am aware." The Tory group has already submitted a motion which will be put to the meeting calling for a special scrutiny commission to be set up to look into the contract. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jul/09)

The waiting list of road repairs in Derby has risen by half in the past year, despite a £25m contract to try to tackle the problem. Before the deal was signed, the backlog of road and path repairs was 3,000 under previous contractor Morrison Highway Maintenance. Now that figure has risen to 4,500 under the new partnership with Carillion, branded Derbyroads. The city council said Carillion had been working to retrain the workforce and bring in new ways to speed up repairs but admitted the backlog of maintenance was worse now than a year ago. Lucy Care, city cabinet member for planning and transportation, said the backlog of repairs would need £2m to tackle, money the authority has not got. The council signed a five-year deal with construction company Alfred McAlpine, which has since been taken over by Carillion.

John Hansed, head of roads at the council, said, "Carillion have been developing the workforce and making changes to the gangs and the way they operate. It has taken them a while to get the workforce retrained and to deal with problems of sickness and an ageing workforce. We wish that might have been done more quickly but, as a result, the backlog of less urgent work has grown." Councillor Care, cabinet member for planning and transportation, said rising inflation, which had affected the construction industry more than many others, meant a huge increase in spending was needed to sort out the city's roads. She said, "To deal with the current pressure on the budget and to bring us back to doing a similar level of work as a few years ago, before cuts and inflation eroded the budget, an extra £1m to £2m a year would be useful. To start making real improvements to the roads and pavements in Derby, we'd be talking more." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Oct/08)

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