A recent road survey shows that local transport authorities could introduce simple preventative solutions to reduce the cost of road repair and maintenance.
The Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey showed that expenditure on road repair and maintenance in England and Wales rose from £1.66bn in 2016-17 to £1.93bn in 2017-18, and this looks set to increase with one in five local roads now deemed ‘structurally poor’, meaning that it has less than five years of life remaining before significant repairs will be needed.
What’s more, the report highlights a funding gap of £3.3m between the funds transport authorities in the two countries were allocated over the last 12 months and the financing they actually need to effectively maintain their carriageways, meaning that additional challenges are also likely to arise.
How can the challenges of rising road infrastructure costs be addressed?
Taking a longer-term view and a preventative approach would be one way to save money, according to the survey. One example is potholes; one pothole is filled every 21 seconds in the UK, and in recognition of the scale of this problem, the government has invested £100m in the repair of road surfaces. However, the Local Government Association estimates that this represents just over 1% of funds necessary to address the current backlog of road repairs.
Instead, innovative technological approaches could prove vital to saving money and ensuring repairs can be undertaken. A composite paving grid, for example, could prevent joints or cracks in the old structure causing reflecting cracking in new pavements.
According to Jochen Bromen, an application technology manager at pavement reinforcement company Tensar, this solution’s ability to prevent cracking could reduce the need to undertake expensive repairs. He said: “The technology combines the reinforcing function of a grid with the stress-relief and interlayer barrier function of a paving fabric. This type of maintenance solution is simple and economical and can extend the operating life of a road, reducing whole-life costs.”
