Official figures released last week suggest highways authorities have prioritised maintenance on key roads since the recession and in doing so have managed to improve or at least maintain their standards, despite funding cuts and skills shortages.
While this has come at a cost to unclassified roads, senior figures in the sector suggest this is a positive result linked to the increasing use of strategic asset management plans designed to maximise value for money and roads condition.
One such leading light is Phil Moore, president of the Local Government Technical Advisers Group who explained to Transport Network how his own unitary authority of Medway has won awards for being 'a most improving local authority' through the NHT public satisfaction survey in a time of austerity and even managed to significantly improve the standard of its unclassified roads.
‘We have invested heavily in asset management in the last few years and the asset system is linked to road condition data. We use the asset system and condition prioritisation system tool to decide what roads are going to be resurfaced using a variety of techniques,' he said.
'Pitney Bowes provided the asset management software CONFIRM, which is a really comprehensive asset management system. We use a further system developed with Jacobs which is integrated with CONFIRM, and allows officers to prioritise our programmes based on efficiency and effectiveness of the condition of roads, linked to resurfacing techniques and products that allow value for money to be achieved.'
Medway saw the percentage of its unclassified road network that should be considered for maintenance decrease from 34% to 26% between 2012/13 and 2013/14.
This is impressive at the best of times but particularly impressive given the pressures of austerity and the unique nature of the unitary, which out of a total road network of 845km, has 614km of unclassified roads -mainly residential estate roads.
It also has the Medway tunnel, which is 725m long and costs around £1m a year to operate and maintained. The council does not receive any extra cash from the Government to help pay for the tunnel, the funds come out of the normal highway maintenance fund.
Mr Moore explained to Transport Network some of the benefits of Medway's asset management system: ‘With an asset management solution linked to road condition data we can take decisions on a mix and match basis depending on our needs at the time. We can switch from road resurfacing to worst first, to most cost effective and this can all be linked to surface treatments including micro-surfacing, stone mastic asphalt (SMA) or hot rolled asphalt (HRA).’
In terms of road maintenance technique, Medway is also not standing still: ‘We want to move away from patch and mend to almost entirely work on resurfacing. As part of that general shift we are using a range of treatments and on some roads reverting back to the traditional HRA.
'All products have their market place, SMA is less waterproof and so allows water to erode the road surface particularly through freezing in colder months. HRA is more water resistant. It has a life expectancy of around double that of the traditional SMA, but is not twice as costly. On the right road with the appropriate traffic conditions, HRA is the most appropriate treatment and that’s what asset management is all about, making the right decisions at the right time, using the right techniques.'
However he added this move to HRA did have one difficulty attached – a skills shortage.
‘We are finding it more difficult to find operatives who are good at laying HRA, chippers who know what they are doing are not in abundance within the industry. We also ensure that we specify a high PSV stone, so we don’t have to put high friction anti-skid surfacing on top of a new road surface, which saves additional costs.
‘In rural local authorities they use surface dressing extensively because the process lends itself to country roads. Historically local authorities do not use this technique in residential roads as you would run the risk of residents walking bitumen into their homes. If we ever use surface dressing we make sure existing structure is sound. Otherwise we would plane and resurface. Surface dressing on a weak structure is just patch and mend on a larger surface,' Mr Moore said.
'We are also discussing with the supply chain the use of a modified surface dressing that does not exhibit the original issues around walking live material into residential properties and we plan to trial a product later this year.'
Mr Moore added his authority is more than happy to share best practice and advice with others.
