Cyclone-damaged roads and highways breaking up just weeks after being repaired

The phenomenon is “not East Coast specific”, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi says.

By RNZ

Roads and highways damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle are breaking up again within weeks of being repaired - which some locals are blaming on poor quality bitumen.

In an interview with Nine to Noon, Wairoa sheep and beef farmer James Brownlie said recently applied seal and repairs on local roads and State Highway 2 was melting off in strips, while the older seal remained sound.

That was despite extensive and thorough preparation work by council contractors.

“Where there have been dig outs that have been done properly, dug out, consolidated, rolled and re-sealed it’s breaking up and going back to potholes within weeks of being done,” he said.

“On the new seal - properly prepared - on State Highway 2, all the bitumen is going soft. I’m only an amateur and a farmer, but I question the quality of the bitumen supplied to the contractors.”

Brownlie, who farms in the Ruakituri Valley, said others in his remote community were also concerned.

The New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said it was aware that roads in the East Coast region had “shown signs of bleeding seal or sticky surfaces” during the past few days.

This phenomenon was “not East Coast specific”, it said in a statement to Nine to Noon.

“The first onset of hot weather can create issues with newly constructed chip seals, especially on uphill inclines – but it usually settles down through the summer.

“Saturated road surfaces can also cause bleeding seal as water gets released from the roads.”

Bitumen imported into New Zealand continued to meet its specification standards to be used on roads in this country – but the agency would closely monitor roads in Hawke’s Bay and Wairoa “with chip spreaders on standby”.

However, Brownlie said he was not convinced the weather was to blame, as it had not been particularly hot or wet for Hawke’s Bay.

“It has warmed up but we haven’t had the hot January weather we get in summer.”

He suspected that Waka Kotahi was not monitoring standards and testing of bitumen quality as per its own specifications.

“These breakups are not going to repair or settle down because the seal has been torn off.

“The aggregate underneath gets exposed. And on our roads we have a lot of heavy traffic at the moment with the Te Reinga Bridge being out, all the Ruakituri traffic is coming through the back roads so the roads are just going to deteriorate.”