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The huge cost of holes...
Page 10
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Holes in the road made by utility companies are costing the UK economy £2bn a year because of increased traffic congestion, a report claims.
The research, by the Transport Research Laboratories (TRL), suggests dramatic savings could be made if the utilities used less disruptive maintenance techniques.
Now a campaign has been launched to ensure that the needs of motorists and hauliers are taken into account when pipes and cables underneath roads have to be serviced and repaired. The Campaign Against Road Disruption (CARD). which commissioned the research, wants the government to adopt methods used elsewhere in the world to deal with this problem. In Hong Kong, for example, servicing work is frequently restricted to night time, and in France utilities have to wait two years before digging holes in a newly built road.
Campaign co-ordinator Andrew Marshall suggests: If the utilities use alternative construction techniques at key pressure points in the road network, it is a rota
tively small price to pay to reduce congestion."
Chrys Rampley, Road Haulage Association infrastructure manager, attended the launch of CARD and says ways of providing support are now being explored.
"It is not just utilities but local councils as well who go for the lowest cost when digging up roads, without considering the indirect costs to motorists and hauliers," he adds. "We want the government to appoint someone to oversee what is going on with the roads."