FORMBY AREA COMMITTEE Date of Meeting: 12 February 2009 Title of Report: Highways Maintenance Programme 2009 2010 Report of : A.R. Moore - Strategic Director of Regeneration & Environmental Services Contact Officer : Mr A Hogan, Highways Manager Telephone: 0151 934 4253 This report contains Yes No CONFIDENTIAL information/ √ EXEMPT information by virtue of paragraph(s) ................. of Part 1 of √ Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 Is the decision on this report DELEGATED? √ Purpose of Report To advise Members of those locations which have been identified for inclusion in the Highway Maintenance Programme for 2009/10. Recommendation(s) It is recommended that Members examine the Programme and make known their comments, which shall be reported to the Cabinet Member, Technical Services. Corporate Objective Monitoring Corporate Positive Neutral Negative Objective Impact Impact Impact 1. Creating a Learning Community √ 2. Creating Safe Communities √ 3. Jobs and Prosperity √ 4. Improving Health and Well-Being √ 5. Environmental Sustainability √ 6. Creating Inclusive Communities √ 7. Improving the Quality of Council Services and √ Strengthening local Democracy 8. Children and Young People √ Financial Implications The cost of the schemes will be contained within the Highways Management budget allocations and Transport Capital Settlements for 2009/10. Departments consulted in the preparation of this Report: Central Departments Director Date Finance Legal Personnel Other Departments: List of background papers relied upon in the preparation of this report None FORMBY AREA COMMITTEE 1.0 BACKGROUND . 1.1 Following the format adopted in previous years, the 2009/10 Highway Maintenance Programme, is being shared with Area Committee’s for consultation and comment, prior to it being referred to the Cabinet Member, Technical Services for formal approval on 11 March 2009. 1.2 Following previous requests by Members, the Highway Maintenance Programme also includes an indicative list of locations, which currently justify consideration for inclusion in a three year rolling programme for a range of highway treatments, namely, Major Reconstructions, Carriageway Resurfacing, Micro-Asphalt Carriageway Surface Treatments and Footway Reconstructions/ Relay. 1.3 Attached to this report as Annex A, is the Highway Maintenance Programme for the whole of the Borough. It incorporates the Street Lighting Renewals/Refurbishment programme, which has been targeted toward the replacement of structurally defective columns within the Borough. As the testing regime is an ongoing exercise, this programme of works may be further developed and expanded during the forthcoming fiscal year. 1.4 In each category of treatment, the initial thick black line denotes the extent to which the Programmes are likely to be completed during 2009/10 based upon anticipated budget allocations and preliminary cost estimates. 2.0 EXPANDED LIST OF POTENTIAL SITES . 2.1 Within the listings of Major Reconstructions, Carriageway Resurfacing, Micro Asphalt Surface Treatments and Footway Reconstructions, there is an expanded number of potential schemes, which based upon current levels of deterioration, would justify consideration for the 2010/111 and 2011/12 Programmes of Work. The subsequent thick black lines identify the likely extent to which work could be progressed in each of these fiscal years, if current budget allocations are maintained. 2.2 However, Members are requested to view the expanded list of schemes with caution as no firm commitment can be given to their automatic progression in future years. Current levels of deterioration across the entire highway network cannot be projected with a high degree of accuracy or confidence. Consequently, other streets situated outside the current listings may experience accelerated levels of deterioration over the next 12-24 months, which will promote their consideration in future years. 2.3 Obviously, without increased budget allocations, any new proposal(s) could only be accommodated at the expense of one or more schemes included in the current listings. 3.0 CONDITION SURVEYS . 3.1 Since June 2001, this Department has operated the MARCH Pavement Management System to monitor the structural condition of highways throughout the Borough. This System incorporates national standards for the collection and analysis of survey data. 3.2 Structural condition surveys are primarily intended to identify deficiencies in the fabric of the highway, which if untreated are likely to adversely affect the value and performance of the highway network. 3.3 Two levels of visual inspection are supported by the Pavement Management System, namely Coarse Visual Inspections (CVI’s) and Detailed Visual Inspections (DVI’s) which are described in more detail below. On selected lengths of highway, machine based survey data can also be commissioned to provide additional support to the evaluation process. 3.4 Coarse Visual Inspections are intended to be fast, cost effective surveys which allow Authorities to cover large parts of their road network on a regular basis and provide appropriate data to generate the annual structural maintenance Performance Indicators (PI’s) required by the Audit Commission. They are also used to target more detailed investigations. The CVI’s are carried out from a slow moving vehicle and identify and categorise lengths of features having generally consistent defects together with details of their lateral extent. 3.5 Detailed Visual Inspections are carried out on foot and record measured lengths of more closely defined defects. DVI’s can be used, if required, to support and validate treatment decisions and scheme identification. Typically the following defects are identified through these surveys:- Carriageways: Wearing Course and wheeltrack cracking, chipping loss, fatting up, fretting, local settlement, edge deterioration and rutting. Kerbs: Inadequate upstand, kerb misalignment and disintegration. Flagged Footways: Cracked and depressed flags, spot defects, longitudinal trips. Bitmac Footways: Cracking, fretting, local settlement, spot defects, and longitudinal trips. 3.6 All surveys are carried out to strictly defined defect criteria to ensure national consistency in standards. 3.7 At the present time, this Department commissions CVI surveys on a high percentage of its carriageways each year, to satisfy the calculation of the appropriate Best Value Performance Indicator. 3.8 Apart from being used to calculate the annual Performance Indicator for the condition of specifically defined categories of footway, the DVI’s can also be targeted toward sections of footway and carriageway, for which further assessment is warranted. To assist in this process, information is gathered from the following sources:- a) Course Visual Inspection data (carriageways only). b) Previous suggestions from Area Committees. c) Suggested schemes identified through the Department’s routine inspection process. d) Councillor Correspondence/Requests. e) Public Correspondence/Requests. f) Insurance related locations. 3.9 The condition data for each surveyed section of road is electronically downloaded into the Pavement Management software to be processed. The software consists of a series of algorithms, which take the condition data, and produce defect lengths with Condition Indices and Ranking Values. 3.10 Given the range of maintenance treatments available (see paragraph 5.0) those locations with high index values would generate a subsequent Engineer’s assessment with a view to being considered in the resurfacing/reconstruction programmes. Those locations with intermediate or lower values might justify preventative works being carried out i.e. slurry seal/surface dressing/micro-asphalt works. It should be noted, however, that numerous sections of highway might have a high Condition index or Ranking value but not justify any intervention works at this time. 4.0 EVALUATION PROCESS 4.1 During the evaluation process the Engineer will use his judgement and experience to determine the relative need for treatment and the most appropriate maintenance solution within prevailing budgets. 4.2 This evaluation will include an on-site assessment of the causation of the ‘wear and tear’, the type and depth of the construction materials, traffic loadings and density, etc to support the decision making process of what, when and where to treat. This will include the impact of doing no programmed work at this time and continuing to maintain the section of highway through routine maintenance/patching operations. 4.3 Where appropriate machine based surveys namely, Deflectograph (for structural assessment of flexible pavements) and SCRIM (for skidding resistance assessment of all types of pavement) can be commissioned to support the decision making process. 4.4 The prioritisation of individual schemes in any one year is based on its perceived need, consequently the selection of schemes on a year by year basis will not be equitable across the Borough. It is believed, however, that over the typical lifetime of a highway pavement there should be equitable distribution of funds across the Borough. 5.0 TREATMENT SELECTION 5.1 The selection of individual treatments will depend upon the nature and severity of the defective lengths of highway. 5.2 Surface Dressing and Slurry Seal applications are essentially preventative treatments, which are applied to bituminous surfaces, which are relatively sound but which are showing initial stages of surface deterioration e.g. fretting. They seal