ITEM X
Highway Services Update
A report by the Interim Director of Kent Highway Services to the Joint Transportation Board
- Following a Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee (POC) meeting on 10 November 2009, this report has been produced for Joint Transportation Boards (JTBs), to cover highways and transport issues across the County.
- Winter Service
At its meeting in September, the Environment, Highways and Waste (EHW)
Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee (POSC) agreed the revised Winter
Service Policy for 2009/10. This policy can now be found on the Kent.gov.uk
website. http://www.kent.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E0111A4A-68CD-427B-8C6B-
52592FDD8735/0/Winterpolicydocument.pdf
- The new winter season started on Monday 19 October and will run through until mid April 2010. Salt stocks were at the expected 20,000 tonnes start level and will be topped up as requested throughout the winter months. Advice on road salting, including the use of salt bins can also be found on the Kent.gov.uk website. http://www.kent.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/highway-maintenance/badweather- conditions/road-salting.htm
- This year Kent Highway Services (KHS) introduced a new salting system that
sprays a saline solution on the crushed rock salt as it is fired out of the lorries.
This new, pre-wet salting system not only makes salting more effective at
preventing icing of roads, but it also uses less salt because less is blown away by the wind.
- The heavy snowfall overnight on 17/18 December was accurately forecast and in preparation, all the County’s primary and secondary routes were salted
before the snow fell. To help melt the snow as quickly as possible, the spread density of the of salt was increased and snow ploughs were deployed overnight to keep these routes clear.
- Although this action matched KCC’s policy, Kent Highway Services will produce a review of the winter service over the period of the recent snow for KCC’s POSC for their spring meeting. This will be followed up by a report to this JTB.
Jetpatcher
7. Throughout the last 6 months KHS have been using a new carriageway repair
method called "Jetpatcher" in rural and quieter areas. This is a quick and
efficient system and positive feedback has been received. The “Jetpatcher“
hose resembles a Formula 1 re-fuelling rig and undertakes a three-step
process to carry out road repairs.
i) High velocity air from the Jetpatcher hose is used to blow all loose
debris from the pothole, leaving a clean hole, ready for patching.
ii)The Jetpatcher hose then uses an asphalt emulsion to coat and seal
the pothole, preventing any further moisture damage.
iii)The Jetpatcher hose then blows aggregate into the pot hole at high
velocity to mix with the asphalt emulsion.
Once the pothole has been filled and sealed with the aggregate/ emulsion mix, a light layer of dry aggregate is applied to the repair to prevent car tyres from adhering to the patch as the emulsion sets in. The area is then ready for traffic. There are a number of benefits to the Jetpatcher approach, including:
§ It is a cold-fill technique which reduces CO2 emissions
§ There is no excavation or further damage to the road surface
§ Less road closures are required
§ Jetpatcher is a quick process
§ Roads can be used again immediately afterwards
§ Repairs are long lasting
Accountable Officer: Andy Moreton 08458 247 800