Island Roads is preparing to deliver an intensive programme of highway improvement works across the Island during May, which includes a cheaper alternative to resurfacing called ‘surface dressing’. The programme of surface dressing is designed to both increase skid resistance and also seal the carriageway surface, preventing water ingress which is the major cause for potholes forming. The work, at 23 locations, will be carried out between the 2 May Bank Holidays. Surface dressing involves applying a layer of bitumen onto the highway into which chippings are then simultaneously rolled. The road is swept initially and then the action of traffic beds down the chippings onto the new surface. Additional sweeping will also be done after 48hrs and again 1 week after the treatment has been delivered. The process is carried out by a fleet of 4 state-of-the-art vehicles, and as the surfacing progresses at walking pace, only short-duration rolling road closures are required. The process requires dry weather and a ground temperature no lower than ten degrees Celsius therefore May is considered the optimum time to deliver the works prior to the busier summer holiday season. On less trafficked areas, a secondary process is carried out which is similar to the initial surface dressing. This is carried out 3 to 5 days after the surfacing dressing element of the works has been completed. This element of the work is also delivered at a walking pace therefore delays on the network are minimised. Work may be required in some areas to prepare the road in advance of the surface dressing. After the roads are treated, crews will need to return to reinstate cats’ eyes and line markings. An Island Roads spokesperson has said:
“This is probably the most intense period of work we have undertaken for several years. Fortunately, it is a quick process so disruption to the network should be kept to a minimum even though approximately 100,000 square metres of carriageway will be treated. “We are aware that some of the roads we plan to treat – such as Whippingham Road – do present some particular challenges and we will be engaging with those stakeholders in the coming weeks. “But we are looking forward to a programme that will bring considerable safety benefits across the Island as well as prolonging the lifespan of the treated roads by making them less susceptible to potholes.”
They used to do that years ago.
it only works if the road surface is good in the first place – which our roads most definitely aren’t.
Even then it wears away after a few weeks before the chippings come loose and fly all over the place.
They’re also supposed to roller it in and brush away the excess but it’s cheaper to let your car wheels do that so expect a lot of broken glass and damaged paintwork.
The article says that it will be rolled and swept!
Surface dressing involves applying a layer of bitumen onto the highway into which chippings are then simultaneously rolled. The road is swept initially and then the action of traffic beds down the chippings onto the new surface. Additional sweeping will also be done after 48hrs and again 1 week after the treatment has been delivered.
Nothing new or state of art, surface dressing has been done since before I was born. So long they make sure repair before,where needed and not full drains with chippings !.
This cash cow from our tax needs to end. You get shit roads that take 10 times longer than any other country to complete.
Stone chips on windscreens then.
And when the tourists have gone home after summer we will be back to square one
this is just a very poor temporary job
So we’re back to the 1970’s?
I guess we’re not expecting any warm weather this year? As soon as it gets hot the bitumen melts and the chippings are all pulled out by vehicles driving on the molten bitumen. Leaving aside the fact that we will all have to walk and drive on these lakes of molten bitumen, When it then cools back down again it leaves a lovely slick road surface with absolutely no grip, perfect for causing accidents in wet weather and winter. Surely if we are running out of usable roads we want to be fixing the roads that are still usable properly and not fire fighting with a spray bottle?
I know times are tough for everyone, the council included but this is actually going to cost the council money when it has to be redone properly and quickly.
“Most intensive period of works”. Going by Island Roads historical achievements my expectations are low.
Maybe do a days work then in a week….
Be interesting to see they times they are actually there and how many.
A return to getting tar spots and stone chips thrown up onto the car just like in the old days. A cheaper and retrograde step to save Island Roads money and cause damage to the Public’s vehicles.
Sticking plasters on open wounds.
The job was carried out on the cheap originally. At the top of my road there is 1/2 inch of tarmac on the original cart track. Every time it rains there are more potholes.
Must be in partnership with Autoglass!!
Let’s hope the cheap and rapid repair lasts long enough to justify not repairing the damage properly.
Hope is all we have now.
We have a pothole in our street that if not repaired soon it will be classed as a quarry and Island Roads maintain they have done a survey of our road and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it someone at Island Roads needs to go to spec savers. The only roads in Cowes that are absolutely pristine are Ward Avenue and Baring Road l wonder why?
I don’t know what COWBOY is in charge of Island Roads
but the workers need a rocket up their a@se
Their work output is shite!
Dear ol’ Island Roads generating yet more revenue for themselves when they have to do it all over again in a couple of years. After all, if this process is so much better (and it’s hardly new) why didn’t they do it on the previous circuits? Perhaps under advice of the Council’s highly competent, excellently good value, totally disinterested “Consultant”?
surface dressing ..bloody hell more like surface bobging only last a week then all blown again..everything they touch turns to shit a year or less later..only go down a inch or so then falls apart ..carry on you muppets ..keeps us entertained..
Have you seen the Island Roads Operatives,
they couldn’t dress a Burger, yet alone a road.
Their speciality is sitting in Store Car Parks like Asda etc or overlooking
the sea, parked in car parks or along seafronts
SHIRKING not WORKING
Is this not called papering over the cracks? Would it not be better to properly repair the farm tracks that we used to call roads.
Between Island Road and Wight Fibre we are coming to a standstill – not to mention gas board and the occasional flood!!!
Wouldn’t trust them to change a light bulb
yet alone do other works.
I thought Cowboys were a thing of the past, obviously not!
Surface dressing is just that, eventually dressings fade and achieve very little bar making the road look nice until driven on by all the heavy traffic. Let’s hope we don’t hit high temperatures later in the year!
Great to see the usual ‘experts’ opinions being aired. It always astonishes me how many fully qualified intellectuals there are over here so ready to share their superior knowledge to us dweebs. I always come straight to the comments section for the bigger picture 🙂
Ha ha ha…I thought I was reading a headline from some years back when this was done before?
That time, I ventured that the company involved had ordered the surface dressing used by thousands of companies across these islands and instead got 1000 island dressing.
Many can remember the lorries with bags of cement on being emptied all over this absolutely useless stuff trying to dry it out? Shops in Newport had to put cardboard down in their entrances to protect their floors, and camper vans were turning up at Wightlink with black mess all down their sides. Briddlesford Road was a morass. Clearly nothing is ever learned by this Council and The Toads?
Unfortunately Island Roads can only carry out the job that our wonderful council give them the contact and finance to do so maybe you need to redirect your constant moaning in the right direction
Quite agree, people always moaning about Island Roads, but as you say they can only do what they are told by The Council.
Both are clueless, it’s the blind leading the blind.
This is exactly what they did back in the 60’s but it was done far better then than these clowns will ever manage and still George street in Ryde remains beyond disgusting due to the deterioration of the road coupled with no maintenance.
Winter of 1963 was the catalyst
Nice to know that Buffalo Bill and the rest of the cowboys are well at island roads. Road redressing is an out dated form of works and should be confined to the history books. It doesn’t last long , you end up with piles of gravel on corners and the road looking like an over used train track. Bikes of the motor and pedal variety are especially vulnerable due to the lose gravel, plus the damage to vehicles.
IWC island residents survey sometime ago asked what residents wanted to spend the council tax on, from memory the three top items that scored high was: 1.mental health, 2.adult social services, 3.children services. (happy to be corrected if need be)
It could be assumed that survey respondents didn’t score roads/transport infrastructure as being important enough, so that why there is a cheap and cheerful solution to fix the island roads…money was budgeted for the where the IOW council tax payers directed it to go…
Hospital will be busy with influx of cyclelist an motorbike riders so where do we send the bill to for damages island morons or council t#ats
As per usual a temporary fix to a permanent problem
Bout Bloody Time Too!!
I have seen this type of cheap repairs carried out over the years on the island and it was a disaster then , and will be so again . What we should be asking for is the County Council surveyors and finance teams to come out into the real world and check the works of planeing and road surface replacements carried out already. Where surfaces have been replaced , without the use of edge and sub base re constructions, having been completed recently, it is breaking up , cracking and splitting, and this is not due to winter weather or water or rain , it’s due to heavy traffic on country roads , poor construction, and cheap standards , who is checking value for money of public finances ?? and who is then approving for it to be repaired again ??
To coin a phrase “from the horses mouth”… had a leaflet shoved through the letterbox stating my road would be closed with no parking and no access for two days to allow them to do this work. I phoned them as had a delivery booked for one of those days and it was suggested I cancelled it as access would not be allowed. I duly cancelled it…
First day of closure, cone city arrived but the only work was two guys cutting around the countless potholes while another two guys sat in the van watching. Following day some of the potholes had been (badly) filled but not a person on site from about 10:00am and no further progress for the rest of the day. Signs changed now for another day of closure next week…
Then along come Wightfibre.
So many experts on here it funny, I’ve just googled (it can be quite factual sometimes if you go to right sites) and not just jumped on the wagon of let’s just moan!!!
Now yes some roads are not good, some need love but I bet 77.9 % don’t drive on the north rock! We were lucky enough to get this for our island at very little cost as again using google and even this news site the clowns in the council have removed lots of their part of the funding (saving are council tax money to waste elsewhere). It’s an interesting read the pfi contract and who ever signed it must of got a massive brown envelope!! The council wanted to save money in making island roads do it their way but now everything is failing the blame them.