GREATER QUALITY CONTROL is needed by the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) when it commissions private contractors to build roads.
This was the view of one contractor as he spoke to this newspaper in response to the “pothole series” of articles and pictures that was initiated in yesterday’s DAILY NATION.
The contractor, who has also built a number of roads for Government, and who asked to remain anonymous, explained that while contracts called for a consistent three-inch layer of asphalt, he had seen too many built with less than that.
“There is a lot of traffic on the road and vehicles are getting heavier and heavier and if you don’t have a consistent three-inch layer, it will crack up and develop potholes,” he added. “And right now I am seeing a lot of that as I drive around the country.”
He also advised against the reuse of milled road surface material in new asphalt mixes since his observation was that it tended to contribute to a faster breakdown because “it does not bind well”.
In the meanwhile, the potholes continue to appear all across the country with little apparent success for MTW personnel who are responsible for keeping the road surface in good repair.
Today we present our second day of pothole photos, as we set out to assist workers from MTW in finding and patching them.
We also invite readers to take their own photos and submit them to us at editorial@nationnews.com. (RRM)
