CITY WATCH 15 SUNDAY TRIBUNE J U N E 2 1 2 0 1 5 T HE Council for Scien- tific and Industrial Research has pub- lished a comprehen- sive technical guide on pot- holes which addresses such questions as what causes them and how they can be repaired. It also highlights how to pre- vent them. The guide says the number of potholes in South African roads in the past few years has increased considerably, leading to serious concern. This can be attributed pri- marily to reduced preventative maintenance on many roads, combined with particularly wet periods during rainy sea- sons and rapidly increasing numbers of heavy vehicles. It says that, while there is no doubt that water is the pri- mary cause of potholes, the ingress of water into the road structure to cause the potholes is mostly due to the condition of the road surface. A lack of periodic and/or preventative maintenance, such as crack-sealing to pre- vent water getting into the underlying road layers, leads to weaknesses developing in the road pavement structure. This results in even more cracks that allow rapid access of water to the structural lay- ers of the road. With constrained road budgets, preventative mainte- nance is often reduced or delayed. This significantly increases the potential for the development of potholes dur- ing wet weather. The main technique for reducing pothole formation is timeous maintenance at the appropriate standard. The guide lists other causes of potholes. Less frequently, they have non-structural origins such as diesel or other chemical spil- lages, mechanical damage to road surfaces from vehicle rims, as well as accidents and fires. Damage can also be caused by falling rocks in cuttings, animal hooves on the road sur- face in hot weather, and poor road design. Most potholes are caused by environmental conditions, water in the road pavement structure, and tyre loads. Water on the road will sel- dom be the sole cause of pot- holes, nor will traffic on a dry, well-maintained road. Only a combination of traf- fic and wet or poorly main- tained roads, will produce pot- holes. When a bituminous (black- top) road is constructed, the surface consists primarily of a combination of bitumen and crushed stone. Bitumen is a unique mate- rial that bonds crushed stone together or to the surface of the underlying road layer. The properties of bitumen change with hot and cold tem- peratures. This allows it to be flexible enough to absorb the small strains (movements) that occur at the surface of the road when traffic passes over it, without cracking in typical road operating temperatures. Over time, the bitumen “dries out” and becomes harder and less flexible. This is known as ageing, which is a result of, for instance, long- term exposure of bitumen to ultraviolet radiation. As this happens, the cumu- lative movements of the road surface result in a fatiguing of the bitumen which eventually cracks. This can be likened to the repeated bending of a piece of wire until it breaks. Only by applying a new bitumen seal or rejuvenating the existing bitumen can the fatigue be avoided. A new bitumen seal obvi- ously returns the road surface to a high degree of flexibility (with some improvement in riding quality). But it is expen- sive, costing between R15 and R38 a square metre. The use of rejuvenators, at about R5 a square metre, pro- vides temporary relief by soft- ening dry bitumen and making it more flexible for a limited time – about two or three years. All roads under traffic and environmental conditions will eventually crack. All roads deform slightly when a heavy vehicle passes over them. Should the surfacing have dried out with time (as is the case with most South African roads), this repeated deforma- tion results in cracking. The increasing number of heavy vehicles on rural roads is also accelerating the rate of deterioration of these roads. When potholes are not repaired timeously, they deteri- orate rapidly and become larger and deeper, until patch- ing maintenance is no longer possible. Expensive reconstruction is then necessary. CHARMEL PAYET THE purpose of the city’s Engi- neering Unit is to provide engi- neering, building and built environment infrastructure, as well as surveying and land information services to resi- dents, businesses and council management. It is also tasked with delivering outputs that meet the social and economic needs of its stakeholders. There are seven depart- ments that fall under the unit: ● Roads Provision ● Development Engineering ● Infrastructure Management and Socio-Economic Develop- ment ● Surveying and Land Infor- mation ● Architecture ● Coastal, Stormwater and Catchment Management ● Roads and Stormwater Main- tenance Roads and Stormwater Maintenance deals with repair- ing potholes and maintaining roads. The Engineering Unit is headed by Greg Evans. Each of the departments has its own head. Below is a brief overview of each department and its main functions. Dave Thomas Deputy head of Roads Provision This division carries out the detailed design and construc- tion of capital roads projects, civil engineering structures, the major rehabilitation of roads, pavement-design testing and pavement management. Chris Hardy Deputy head of Roads Development Engineering This department does design and construction of engineer- ing capital projects on behalf of other departments, including urban renewal and economic development projects. David Lievaart Acting deputy head of Infrastructure Management and Socio-Economic Development This department co-ordinates the implementation of asset management in the city by de- fining infrastructure asset requirements, developing and improving life-cycle infrastruc- ture asset management strate- gies, and integrating, develop- ing and improving infra- structure assets. Alan Christison Deputy head of Surveying and Land Information This department provides land-usage surveys, an engi- neering and sectional-title sur- veying service, as well as advice on land legal and techni- cal issues and land acquisition. Functions include facilitat- ing land acquisition, land-plan preparation and land-develop- ment plans, land surveying, engineering and sectional-title surveying, land legal and land technical advice, capital proj- ect land acquisition, plan preparation and land develop- ment, plan and document microfilming and services, and retirement certificates relating to municipal business. Nina Saunders Acting deputy head of Architecture This department provides professional services in archi- tecture, project management, urban design, landscape archi- tecture, quantity surveying, structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engi- neering, and building mainte- nance. Functions include provid- ing professional advice to the city manager and council, design, managing the develop- ment and construction of all architectural and related municipal projects and provid- ing maintenance services for council buildings and property assets. Randeer Kasserchun Deputy head of Coastal Stormwater and Catchment Management This department’s duty is to provide a cost-effective, envi- ronmentally sympathetic and sustainable coastal stormwa- ter and catchment manage- ment system. Functions include manag- ing flood risks, striving to improve water quality in the city’s rivers and wetlands, pro- tecting and enhancing urban river corridors and wetlands as important natural landscapes within the urban landscape, and maintaining a suitable beach width. Ken Hobson Deputy head of Roads and Stormwater Maintenance This department operates from 25 depots in six regions within eThekwini. Functions include routine inspection of the road and stormwater network; repairs to sinkholes, potholes and road subsidences; repairs/reinstate- ments of excavations, trenches and localised failures on roads and pavements; repairs, main- tenance and unblocking the stormwater drainage systems; replacing missing covers, access lids and bollards; and repairs/replacements of guard rails, roadside fencing and traf- fic lines and signs. Its is also involved with stream cleaning and maintenance, removal of rubble and sand from roads, and upgrading low-volume gravel roads. Before and after pictures of Wood Road,Montclair,after maintenance work was done by the eThekwini Municipality’s Roads Provision Department. Picture: SUPPLIED THE length of the road network in the eThekwini municipal area is 9 462km. Roads are maintained by the following authorities: ● The SA National Roads Authority Limited, responsible for maintaining the N2 and N3 freeways, totalling about 367km. ● The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport, which looks after provincial roads. Numbers are prefixed by the letters “M”, “P” or “R”. For example, M19, M7, M4, P100 and R102. Contact the department at 031 469 8900 to report complaints about these roads. ● The eThekwini Roads and Stormwater Maintenance Department, responsible for maintaining a network of roads totalling 7 682km.The unit also maintains about 1 420km of gravel roads. In addition, there are about 110 000 inlets and manholes in the municipal stormwater system maintained by the department. An average of approximately 1 000 covers are lost annually owing to theft and damage. The M4 South in Durban is one of a number of roads maintained by the KZN Department of Transport.Most provincial roads are prefixed by the letters ‘M’,‘P’ or ‘R’. Picture:TERRY HAYWOOD CHARMEL PAYET drives the pothole campaign Hole story of SA’s roads Teams tasked with maintaining Durban’s infrastructure Water,heavy vehicles and poor maintenance, are largely to blame for the deterioration, writes C h a r m e l P a y e t REPORT POTHOLES MAKING COMPLAINT CALLS READERS’ POTHOLE GRIPES THE city’s engineering call centre, which directly handles road and stormwater complaints, will be featured next week. However,this week I put the various means of logging a complaint with the call centre, to the test. We reported a few pothole complaints from readers using various means of communication. First I contacted the call centre to report a complaint about potholes in Pinetown. My call was answered after four minutes. The consultant took down facts about the potholes. She also took down my contact details. She said the issue should be dealt with in 10 working days,but acknowledged it might take longer. In addition, I SMSed a complaint about a pothole in Hans Dettman Highway in Pinetown. I received an automatic response at 8.30pm confirming my complaint had been logged. I also e-mailed the call centre about potholes in Sydenham and stalled construction to repair potholes in Chatsworth. At 8.20pm I was told my e-mail had been received.A short response was given regarding the delayed roadworks.I was asked to be patient, but was assured my complaint would be dealt with. READERS identified some potholes.We have reported them to the relevant municipal unit for action to be taken, and will report back on progress made in repairing them in the final week of the series. ● A reader complained about potholes in Stapleton Road, Pinetown, after the intersection with Old Main Road and just before the on-ramp to the M13.The closer one got to the bridge at the M13 on-ramp, the worse it got.The situation was dangerous because people swerved to avoid the potholes at the last minute. ● Jey Vasdev complained of potholes in Hans Dettman Highway between Electron and Wiltshire roads, Pinetown. He said the area needed urgent attention. ● Another reader complained about potholes in Road 726, Unit 7, Chatsworth. Rehabilitation of the road had begun three months ago, but then came to a halt without any explanation for why this had occurred.Work had recommenced, but no deadline had been given for when the work would be completed. ● Potholes in Sparks Road, just before Spearman Road, were also highlighted.There were no signs to alert drivers, resulting in them swerving to avoid the potholes at the last moment. THERE is a 24-hour engineering call centre that receives complaints about road and water issues. Repairing potholes falls under this unit. You can call the toll-free number to report a pothole at 080 1313 013, SMS them at 43554, send them an e-mail at [email protected], or fax them at 031 311 8220. The Roads and Stormwater Maintenance Department is responsible for the repairs of potholes and related work on a road network that spans approximately 7 600km. In terms of the unit’s service-level agreement, action to repair potholes must be undertaken within 48 hours of a complaint being received at the engineering call centre. However,bad weather and other unforeseen circumstances can affect this time period in some instances. Potholes of a minor nature should be repaired in no more than 10 working days. The Roads and Stormwater Maintenance Department has 25 operational depots spread throughout the eThekwini area. Each depot has a dedicated team and a vehicle to repair potholes.The unit is responsible only for the maintenance of the municipal road network within the eThekwini region. WHO LOOKS AFTER WHAT