Carlton Avenue - Condition Improvement

Carlton Avenue Improvements

In the Budget the Chancellor announced additional funding for local authorities to repair the damage to highways that had followed the extreme winter weather experienced over the previous months. The funding was exceptional, recognising that this had led to severe winter weather for 30 years. Southend Borough Council received a sum of £286,000 in the financial year 2011/12.

Conditions were attached to the grant requiring that it be spent on repairs to the authority's highway network resulting from, or worsened by the winter weather.
The revenue funding allocated by the Borough to highway maintenance had already permitted much of the urgent repair work required on the network to be undertaken. This included the extensive filling of individual potholes and ad hoc patching of the carriageway, all of which were emergency repairs that needed doing for immediate safety reasons. It was suggested by the Department for Transport that this funding could be spent on capital work, where this would provide a better, lasting solution, maximising the benefits to the road user over the longer term.

As a result of this it was decided to use the funding for one particular road within the network which may have previously been in poor condition and which may therefore have suffered particularly as a result of the bad weather.

In order to select which road would most benefit from treatment, the Council used survey information regularly obtained on the network. In this respect, each year this Council undertakes mechanical condition surveys to determine the roads which are in poorest condition and to enable priorities to be established. The results of the condition surveys had indicated that Carlton Avenue was already in particular need of maintenance work and visual inspection undertaken after the winter revealed that the severe weather had resulted in further, significant deterioration.
It was therefore determined that the emergency fund for winter damage should be used to improve the condition of Carlton Avenue.

The programmed work, which was undertaken in July and August 2011, entailed the removal of all of the failing wearing carpet. Very large sections of the underlying structure had also failed and these were removed and replaced with a high density base course. The wearing course was replaced with a proprietary stone mastic asphalt (Fibrovia) which incorporates a highly skid resistant aggregate.

The planning and resurfacing work undertaken in Carlton Avenue has provided a high quality surface which it is envisaged will remain in serviceable condition for a period of at least 15 years.