Major Resealing of Roads Begins

Date: Tuesday 27 October 2009

The City Council is spending nearly $500,000 on its annual resealing programme for the city during the 2009/'10 financial year, a lesser amount than the previous year.

The resealing work begins early next month as the spring to autumn period is the optimum time for major outdoor construction. Nearly seven kilometres of roads are being sealed over the next three months.

Senior Civil Engineer, Aten Kumar, says during this time motorists and cyclists will need to take extra care when driving on the new sealed surface until the loose chip has been swept up and road markings have been reinstated.

"Pedestrians also need to take care even after the chip has been spread as bitumen used in the process can stick to shoes," he says.

Higgins Contractors Ltd will use signage to alert people of the resealing programme.

Aten explains that a chip sealed road surface only has a life span of between eight and 12 years, depending on traffic volume. A worn seal allows water to enter the pavement structure and significantly weaken it.

"The results from not resealing would be a rapidly deteriorating surface such as potholing and poor skid resistance. At worst we'd need to reconstruct roads at greater expense. Resealing is a very cost effective way of maintaining them," he comments.

Aten urges drivers to look out for newly sealed roads and drive slowly to allow the seal to settle down. Fast-moving traffic or heavy acceleration or braking can rip up the new surface which is expensive to repair and soul destroying for those carrying out the work.

"We regret the inconvenience to motorists during the time the resealing is taking place but in the long run they will benefit from improved roads and reduced crash risk," Aten says.

The resealing programme is part of the Council’s 10 Year Plan for maintaining a quality roading network.