Latest news with #roadmaintenance
BBC News
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Road bridge over M25 in Surrey closed all weekend
A road bridge over the M25 is closed all weekend with diversions in place due to roadworks. National Highways South East says the closure, which began at 21:00 BST on Friday, is in place on the Cobham Road to re-waterproof the bridge and replace an 18-year-old closure does not affect the M25 and the bridge will be reopened by 06:00 BST on Monday, the agency says. A National Highways spokesperson said: "We're working closely with both major and local roadworks to ensure our closures and diversion routes are coordinated effectively." This bridge is located on Cobham Road between Shamrock Close and River Lane in to all nearby properties and businesses on both sides of the Cobham Road bridge will remain available. However, motorists will not be able to drive across the bridge during the full diversion route is available here.A second weekend closure of the bridge will be needed later in 2025, the agency says.
Zawya
a day ago
- Automotive
- Zawya
Kuwait continues road development works in Sulaibikhat under new contracts
KUWAIT CITY - Minister of Public Works Dr. Noura Al-Mashaan confirmed on Thursday that field teams from the ministry are continuing infrastructure development works on Khalaf Al-Ahmar Road in Sulaibikhat, as part of ongoing efforts to enhance the country's internal road network and implement scheduled maintenance programs. In a press statement, Dr. Al-Mashaan said the Ministry of Public Works remains committed to developing the country's infrastructure by upgrading internal roads in accordance with the ministry's long-term plans. She noted that the ministry's engineers are supervising the implementation on-site, ensuring compliance with approved technical specifications and safety standards while utilizing modern equipment and machinery. "The work is proceeding according to the approved timeline while upholding all necessary safety and security protocols," the minister said. Al-Mashaan emphasized that the internal road maintenance and rehabilitation initiative aims to improve living conditions in residential areas and address road-related issues in response to public feedback. The program is being executed in collaboration with relevant regulatory bodies. She reaffirmed the ministry's dedication to providing a safe and modern road network that supports efficient traffic flow and helps reduce risks and traffic accidents. The minister also called on residents in the area to cooperate and show understanding regarding temporary diversions until the completion of the works. Deputy Engineer Mamdouh Al-Enezi, who supervises Road Maintenance Contract No. 13 in Jahra Governorate, stated that he and his team were present on-site at Khalaf Al-Ahmar Road to monitor progress and assess the latest developments under the newly launched maintenance contracts. Al-Enezi explained that Thursday's work involved laying a layer of Type 3 asphalt as part of the broader plan to enhance road quality and performance. Arab Times | © Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
BBC News
2 days ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Devon County Council to trial changes to filling in potholes
A council has agreed to trial changes to the way it fixes potholes in parts of County Council backed proposals to trial areas where all potholes would be filled, rather than just dealing with safety defects, as part of an approved £83m road maintenance Thomas, the county council's cabinet member for highways, said the state of the roads was not what the council wanted but it was unable to tackle all the issues as it was "grossly under resourced by central government".A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We are determined to end the pothole plague, which is why Devon County Council is receiving over £83m this year to fix its roads." It said: "This is just the start - the government will also be investing a further £24bn to upgrade motorways and local roads across the country, delivering lasting infrastructure Britain can rely on."Thomas said the state of the roads was not being tackled as "quickly as we would like"."We have a repair backlog of around £390m, and to keep us in a steady state it costs around £102m a year," he said. The county council said exact details were still to be agreed but a pilot "repair blitz" would be used to establish budget implications of changing maintenance agreed to examine the costs of accelerating the remarking of white lines across the said about £56m of this year's highway maintenance capital budget would be invested in road maintenance and surface treatments, and the rest would be allocated to bridges and structures, streetlighting, traffic signals, public rights of way and other highways assets.
BreakingNews.ie
2 days ago
- Automotive
- BreakingNews.ie
Pothole complaints surge nationwide with 14,000 reports in Cork alone
Drivers in Cork called in nearly three times more pothole complaints than those in any other county over the last three years. New figures released to Newstalk under the Freedom of Information Act show Cork City and County Councils received over 14,000 pothole complaints in the last three years. Advertisement Dublin comes in second place, with the capital's four local authorities fielding over 5,000 complaints from disgruntled drivers. Kerry comes in third with nearly 4,500 complaints, Limerick is in fourth with 4,232 and Meath rounds out the top five with 3,366. The figures show the number of pothole complaints recorded around the country have surged over the three years – increasing by over 92 per cent between 2022 (when there were 10,212) and 2024 (when there were 19,618). Speaking to Newstalk, Cork City Councillor John Maher said the roads in some parts of the county are 'like walking on the moon'. Advertisement 'That's how bad it is,' he said. 'Number one, the problem is that the local authorities across the country are not funded adequately to address the issues that we face in 2025. 'Secondly, the amount of work being carried out by utility companies and the roads not being restored to a proper standard, in my experience in Cork City Council has been another factor that has led to the bad quality and the potholes on our roads.' The figures show that there were just over 24 complaints for every 1,000 people in Cork over the time period – seven times more than the figure for Dublin and more than double the national average. There are, however, two counties that saw more complaints than Cork on a per capita basis. Advertisement Kerry comes in second with just over 28 complaints per 1,000 people and Roscommon leads the way with a whopping 33.6 complaints per 1,000 people. People in Kildare are the least likely to complain, with just 0.4 complaints per 1,000 people – 26.5 times lower than the national average. The bottom five also includes Donegal – the county with the third largest road network in the country. There were just 3.12 complaints per 1,000 people in Donegal despite the fact that its road network spans around 6,500km – second only to Cork (over 12,000km) and Galway (Nearly 7,000km). Drivers in Cork were also paid out by far the most in pothole-related damages between 2022 and 2024. Some 1,283 Cork drivers were paid out a total of €283,465 over the three years – more than double the €116,222 paid out to 469 drivers in Meath (second place). It is also 2.75 times the €102,722 paid out to 286 drivers in Dublin. It means some €485 was paid out for every 1,000 people in Cork over the timeframe – nearly seven times more than the €70 paid out per 1,000 people in Dublin. Nationally, the amount paid out in pothole damage claims around the country more than doubled between 2022 and 2024 – increasing by 105 per cent from €191,038 to €392,572. Meanwhile, the number of claims settled increased by 125 per cent from 839 to 1890.
ABC News
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- ABC News
Queensland government vows to 'do a better job' of maintaining roads with more than $8 billion in work needed
The Queensland government is pledging to get on top of its more than $8 billion maintenance and renewal bill for works needed on thousands of kilometres of state-owned roads. At a time when those costs are only growing, the government has declared it needs to do more to maintain existing assets. Those working in the transport industry argue the government should be required to provide roads which are up to scratch, in the same way their vehicles have to be. Tayla Connolly, who manages a Townsville-based transport company which works across Queensland, pointed out they were required to operate roadworthy vehicles. "There doesn't appear to be the same requirement statewide for the government to provide us with roads that are safe to travel on for our vehicles,' she said. Ms Connolly's company runs 26 prime movers which service both private and government customers across rural and remote areas. She said vehicle maintenance was one of their biggest costs. "Our bonnets are fibreglass, so any sort of corrugation or shaking will create damage there," she said. "There's obviously suspension as well, which on some of the rougher roads in Queensland we do see quite a lot of damage to." Every year, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) calculates the cost of what it calls the "capital renewal investment needs". It takes into account the resealing, resurfacing and rehabilitation works needed for pavements on roads, as well as the rehabilitation required for structures, such as bridges. It does not include routine maintenance jobs, such as pothole patching, minor pavement repairs, or vegetation management. At the end of the 2023-24 financial year, the department estimated there was $8.63 billion in outstanding renewal and maintenance works with no funding — up from $7.8 billion the year before. Over the same period, the length of impacted road fell from 11,383km to 10,040km. The Queensland Transport and Roads Investment Program for 2024-25 to 2027-28 includes $5.23 billion for maintenance, preservation, and operations. Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said he wanted to stabilise the cost of outstanding works and "hopefully start to turn the curve and reduce the backlog over time". "My personal view is we need to do a better job of maintaining our existing assets," he said. "Politicians love building new things and it's important that we do build new infrastructure, but it's really important that we maintain what we have as well." Mr Mickelberg acknowledged maintenance works were getting more expensive thanks to increased prices for bitumen and wages. Despite that, he said the government needed to get on top of the "growing burden" of works, warning it was road users who paid the price. "They pay the price through either greater congestion, or they pay the price through vehicle damage," Mr Mickelberg said. "That's the reality of these maintenance backlogs." The minister said his department prioritised road safety issues. RACQ's head of public policy Michael Kane said the club's members were constantly complaining about poor road surfaces. "What that does is cause damage to tyres, suspension, windscreens — all adding to the cost of travelling on Queensland roads," he said. "Our members are less interested in shiny and new, and they very strongly say to us they want to see the roads fixed, they want to see them properly maintained and extended. Dr Kane said more damage was being inflicted on Queensland roads due to "extreme" weather events and a growing population. "The key thing is to have the adequate funding to build back better." Ms Connolly agreed weather events substantially reduced the effective life of roads and bridges. "You simply cannot have a road under water for that period of time and expect it to have the same effective life," she said. TMR expects recent flooding events in Queensland will impact both the short-term condition of roads and the rate of deterioration in the future. As of May, the department said work was still underway to get detailed damage assessments. "The initial focus has been on completing emergency repairs to ensure roads can safely remain open while we work on a full reconstruction program," a TMR spokesperson said. 'The recovery works are jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.'
