Mayoral candidate Dan Melanson says he believes road construction standards and materials used by the City of Greater Sudbury need to change.
“We cannot afford to continue building roads that start deteriorating soon after they are completed,” Melanson says.
He says that simply switching asphalt mixes is not a solution in itself, citing a recent report by The Ontario Road Builders Association that reviewed all the issues that negatively affect asphalt quality.
“As mayor, I will gather together the city’s road building experts, local road construction companies, geotechnical companies and asphalt product manufacturers together to develop a process based on the new technology and information available to review and change our current road building standards.”
Full press release below:
Right from the start of this election campaign and continuing right through to today, the biggest issue, with all the people I have talked with, is the state of our roads in every part of our city.
I have also talked to many people in the industry including road construction companies, engineers and even the manufacturers of the asphalt binders, emulsions and sealants that are used in the asphalt mix to try and understand the problems and find solutions.
One bright spot in all these conversations was to find out about the recent release of a comprehensive report by The Ontario Road Builders Association that reviewed all the issues that negatively affect asphalt quality.
They studied roads in Ontario that were affected by premature cracking, they studied asphalt quality, they interviewed contractors and owners to find out how they approached paving contracts and finally they consulted with municipalities. They took samples of roads and highways already constructed to find out about the mixtures used, if binders were used between layers of pavement and a whole lot of other information.
It’s been suggested during this campaign that switching asphalt mixes would solve our problem, but the findings of the report indicate that that is not a solution in itself. Our city and all other municipalities in Ontario need to review their road building standards based on the findings in this new report.
I believe our road construction standards and materials need to change. We cannot afford to continue building roads that start deteriorating soon after they are completed.
I found that one of the best ways to mitigate the risk of premature deterioration is to engage a company to perform geotechnical reports before the tender goes out. With these reports, the engineers will examine the ground conditions, water table, and more then will issue their road-building format including the materials to be used. Their engineers and quality control people will then oversee construction to assure roads are built right. That company takes the risk and it could be possible that we can get a guarantee of 20-year road life. Yes, we will have to pay extra for geotechnical reports but, by doing it right from the start, we will save a lot of money in the long run and our roads will be built right the first time.
As mayor, I will gather together the city’s road building experts, local road construction companies, geotechnical companies and asphalt product manufacturers together to develop a process based on the new technology and information available to review and change our current road building standards.
