Flood Lessons Pt 3 – Road Construction

The recent rains have caused significant damage to the country’s roadways and have resulted in a huge bill which we are currently unable to fund.  There is no doubt that heavy rains can cause damage to the infrastructure but that is only part of the story.  The flood rains have revealed the extent to which our roads are improperly constructed.  One only has to look at the toll roads which have withstood several floods to get proof of this. In addition one can look at the Winston Jones and the north coast highways. Despite all of the rain there has been no damage to these roads and this is because the roads have been constructed properly.  This is particularly good because none of these roads have drains to take the excess water off the road.

For many years the construction and repair of roads has been a tool for governments to reward their supporters.  Many of the persons who have received contracts have no experience in the area of road construction and do not have the necessary technical expertise to carry out the work.  It is not uncommon to see roads that have been recently repaired sink in patches within three months of the work being done.  Additionally even small amounts of rain wash away the surface of the road.  Another problem that results in poor roads is the lack of resources.  Governments have settled for a quick fix to the problem since it is much ‘cheaper’ than repairing the road properly.  However in the long term it actually costs more because one has to continually repair the road.

If we are going to repair the roads which have been damaged along with those identified under the road improvement programme then we will have to change the way in which we operate.  Contracts for road construction and repair should be given only to companies that have the technical expertise necessary to do the job.  Options of road construction should be examines including the use of adding cement to the marl foundation, concrete roads, volcanic ash, etc.  The most important area which is often ignored is the supervision of the work done to ensure that it is done properly.  Ensuring that the work is done well at the time of construction will save us the headache of trying to deal with the cost of repairing the damage later.  In addition we need strict enforcement of the rule requiring contractors to repair roads where they have been improperly repaired.

The results of flood damage can be quite devastating but with more care up front we can limit the extent of the disruption to the islands road network.