With the warmer weather now upon us, Tauranga City Council is carrying out the city’s annual road resurfacing programme.
The programme runs from late September through to the end of March (later for asphalt if warmer temperatures allow). This season will see around 18 tonnes of asphalt used to resurface 9.6 km of roads at 58 different locations, as well as chip seal applied to 18.5km of roads across 51 sites. There will also be about 20,000 square metres of pre-seal repairs carried out.
Council’s roading maintenance contract manager, Garry Oakes, says people often ask why roads are being resurfaced when it doesn’t look like they need any repairs.
“It’s all about prevention – protecting the foundations of our roads and preventing potholes. The seal on a road is like paint on your house - it keeps water out of the structure underneath. Like paint, the seal breaks down over time and starts to let water in.
“When the surface of a road starts to break down it’s time to resurface. The ideal time to resurface is just before any easily visible damage occurs.”
Council spends approximately $8 million a year resurfacing about 25-30km (4-5%) of our 630km of local roading network. This is partly funded by the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA).
“The funding partnership requires us to stick to NZTA’s requirements, which often means using chip seal as opposed to asphalt which is approximately five times more expensive than chip seal,” says Garry.
Chip seal involves spraying hot bitumen on the existing road surface, with stone sealing chips added and rolled to bed the chips into the bitumen. Loose chips can be expected after it’s been swept,
and may need extra sweeps until it settles.
Asphalt is typically replaced with asphalt on main arterial (high volume of traffic) roads or in areas with a high volume of vehicle turns.
“A lot of people aren’t keen on chip seal, especially if their road was asphalt before, but as well as meeting our funding requirements we have to ensure value for money for our ratepayers,” says Garry.
“We are also trialling some new surfacing treatments that look like asphalt but are less costly.”
Council works with external contractors to reseal the roads. The contractors engage directly with affected residents and businesses, which usually involves a letterbox drop about a week ahead of the works to let you know what to expect, what you can do help the contractors get in and out quickly, and who to contact with any questions or concerns. A QR code on the letter provides more information about the surfacing technique.
“This gives us a chance to consider any feedback and make changes if necessary. For example, if you have an event planned on the day we intend to seal we might be able to change plans at our end,” says Garry.
The resurfacing work can take up to four days, with additional days needed to reinstate road markings.
“We can’t reseal in the rain, so we sometimes need to postpone to wait for dry conditions,” says Garry.
Electronic messaging boards on the side of the road are used to inform drivers of upcoming works and people can sign up to Council’s weekly e newsletter Weekly Bulletin to see where works are located from week-to-week to help plan their journeys www.tauranga.govt.nz/weeklybulletin.
For more information about the resurfacing programme visit www.tauranga.govt.nz/road-resurfacing.
| Image caption | This season will see around 18 tonnes of asphalt used to resurface 9.6 km of roads at 58 different locations. |