A wise man has once said, "To judge a country's economic state, first review its road conditions." Undoubtedly, this well-known saying has logic behind it, which we all are aware of. Thus, it is imperative that we must emphasize Road Maintenance in our socio-development prospects. Road Maintenance offers several direct and indirect benefits, like smoother journeys, lesser consumption of gas and availability of roads for a longer duration of time. It usually involves two major maintenance aspects - Corrective Maintenance that includes repair work like Pot Hole Patching, Crack Filling and Sweeping, or Preventive Maintenance like Crack Sealing and Surface Correction to ensure slow deterioration of roads. Pot Hole Patching is the most cost-effective Corrective Maintenance activity. It is also called Reseal Treatment, in which a layer of bitumen is sprayed onto the existing road. Then stone chips are spread over this layer and subsequently rolled with a road roller. The other method is called Asphalt Resurfacing, in which hot mixed asphalt is used to correct surface deficiencies and restore surface evenness. Besides Pot Hole Patching, one must also concentrate on minor reshaping and minor stabilizing before these issues turn into a much bigger headache. Crack Sealing is another Road Maintenance activity. Sealants and asphalt are used to fill pavement joints and cracks to prevent water from penetrating into the surface, thus adding more life to the road. Another form of Preventive Maintenance is Surface Correction. In this maintenance activity, a thin film of surfacing is made to improve surface integrity and waterproofing. Everybody wants to see his neighborhood neat and clean. Taking care of this issue, one must emphasis on Sweeping / Street Cleaning to remove debris from streets, reduce pollutants and reduce maintenance costs that governments spend, usually to keep drainage systems clean. |
