28 July 2009
A mixture of warmer wet weather and then frosts has contributed to the sealing chip ‘losses’ experienced in parts of the District.
Paul Chin, Council’s Roading Service Delivery Manager says that the combination of both drops in temperature and excess moisture reduces the ability of the stone chips to ‘stick’ to the bitumen surface.
“It’s a fine line, the bitumen spray application cannot be too thick, because then it bleeds in the summer and you get the sticky tar-like residue. But we know that there are some areas that are causing problems, especially on the high level bridge in Cambridge and some streets in Te Awamutu, and we’d like to apologise to residents for that.”
Maintenance for sealing contracts cover a 12 month programme which is industry standard in New Zealand, and remedial works are included in this.
“We are disappointed, and apologise for the nuisance. We’d like to reassure people that the problem will be fixed as soon as weather conditions allow. Our engineers are working closely with the contractor to ensure that problem areas are well signposted and loose chip swept up, until remedial works can be done in October when sealing conditions are optimal.”
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