Resurfacing and Restrengthening
Roads generally fail by cracking and rutting. They usually do not fail suddenly, but gradually deteriorate due to the impact of traffic, age and weathering. Wear normally appears as either excessive permanent deformation of the whole or part of the carriageway structure or is associated with the cracking of the bituminous layers.
Roads are normally designed for an operational life of 20 years. During this period and beyond, there is a need for the highway authority to intervene at times to either treat or replace the top layer of bituminous material known as the "surface course" or to provide additional depth to preserve the underlying structure of the road and extend its life.
Resurfacing is the application of a layer of this mixed material of 40mm minimum thickness. It strengthens the road, seals it against the ingress of water, and improves skidding resistance and riding quality.
Surface course Bitumen Macadam (bitmac) has an expected life of 7-12 years which can be extended by subsequent surface dressing. Bitmac is a more flexible material than Asphalt and more suitable for the deformation and movement associated with weaker underlying ground conditions.
Asphalt resurfacing is more appropriate to heavily trafficked roads and junctions having a robust road base. It is more expensive and has a longer expected life of 15-20 years. Resurfacing of existing roads can usually be carried out on top of the existing surface (overlay) but where drainage or kerb levels or bridge heights are restricted the surface may need to be removed before resurfacing takes place.
Surface Dressing
This process involves spraying a bitumen emulsion binder onto the existing road surface, followed by a layer of stone chippings, which is then rolled. This seals the road preventing ingress of water thus extending the life expectancy of the road and also helps to improve the skid resistance of the surface.
Drainage Works
The quick and effective drainage of surface water from the carriageway contributes significantly to road safety and helps to prevent damage to the road itself. Improvement works carried out include the upgrading of the existing drainage facilities to ensure effective dispersal of surface water and prevent as far as possible the occurrence of standing water or flooding of the road. In many cases the provision of new drainage facilities have to be undertaken.
Grass Cutting
Grass cutting is carried out for road safety reasons rather than for amenity purposes. Previous grass cutting policy allowed for routine cutting of 1 swathe width (approximately 1.2m) twice a year in rural areas and five times a year in urban areas. However, due to financial constraints, the policy has been amended to allow for two cuts across both rural and urban areas, with the exception of sightlines which are re-cut as necessary.
Gully Emptying
The Department currently aims to maintain the level of service and inspect and clean, where necessary, all gullies once annually. Open outlets are also cleaned once per year.
Dealing with Correspondence /Public Interface
The Department, and in particular DfI Roads, receives a large volume of correspondence from the public and public representatives throughout the year. The level of correspondence has been increasing in recent years at a time when staff resources have been reducing.
In a large number of cases the correspondence relates to reports of individual defects on the road network, such as potholes, blocked gullies, defective streetlights etc. In order to improve efficiency, the Department now deals with correspondence which is only reporting routine defects differently from other general correspondence. Therefore, if a member of the public, or public representative, writes to the Department by letter or e-mail, reporting a routine defect then our staff will simply log this information onto our work systems and an automated response detailing the query reference number will issue to the correspondent. Staff will then deal with the query received in accordance with our maintenance standards.
If the initial letter relates to a more general roads issue rather than simply reporting a defect, a substantive reply will issue in the normal way.
In an effort to reduce the volume of correspondence reporting routine defects, we are encouraging the reporting of defects through the on-line “Report a Fault” section on our website. Alternatively, a phone call can be made to one of our telephone operatives who will record the details directly onto the “Report a Fault” system. You can report a fault on-line at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/ or by telephone to 02890 540540.
It is noted that the vast majority of dealings with the public are by phone or email and the number of visitors to our offices has reduced considerably as communication methods have improved. However, Section Offices will remain open to the public from 10.00 am - 12noon with meetings outside of this able to be arranged by appointment also.
Emergency Out of Hours Assistance
We have a call centre to deal with calls outside normal office hours. DfI Roads personnel can be called upon to deal with emergencies such as flooding, obstructions such as fallen trees, and when requested by Emergency Services, in clearing up after road traffic collisions. Routine roads related matters are not dealt with by this service and should be raised with DfI Roads offices during normal working hours. The Emergency out of Hours telephone number is: 0300 200 7899.
Winter Service
The Department carries out precautionary salting of carriageways on identified priority roads to prevent ice from forming. Every night from the middle of October until the middle of April around 300 staff and over 130 gritters are on standby to ensure the main roads are salted. The aim is to provide a winter service which, as far as is possible, will permit main road traffic to move safely and freely in wintry conditions.
The winter service operation involves salting around 7,000 kilometres of main roads in just over three hours, at a cost of approximately £85,000 per night.
During snow, all gritters will be fitted with snow ploughs and efforts directed to clearing snow from main roads. Arrangements are also in place to enlist the help of contractors, including farmers, to clear blocked roads. Approximately 5,600 salt bins and 58,000 grit piles are placed at strategic locations for use on a self-help basis. At the end of last season, the Department had arrangements in place with all 11 councils for the treatment of town and city centre footways during prolonged severe weather. Where necessary, officials are consulting with councils to roll forward these agreements.
Around 65,000 tonnes of salt is used in an average winter.
The Winter Service average normal budget requirement is £7m, but has, in the past, been £10m for a bad winter as was the case in 2017-18.
Additional information, including our winter service leaflet, can be found on our website.