Routine maintenance activities for Road

LEARNING ELEMENT OBJECTIVES

After you have learned this element you should be able to:
- list the routine maintenance activities;
- explain why these activities are necessary;
- explain when, instead of maintenance, realignment or reconstruction are required.
ACTIVITIES
The activities to be carried out under routine maintenance are:
- the filling of pot-holes and/or ruts with material similar to material used for the road surface layer;
- the compaction of this material;
- the maintaining of the correct camber of the road by retrieving loose material which has been transported to the edges of the
road and respreading and compaction of this material;
- the removal of corrugations;
- the cutting of vegetation growing on the verges of the road. The verges of the road include the shoulders of the road formation
and the stretches of ground sloping down from the shoulders to the side drains;
- the repair of erosion channels which have been formed on the running surface, the shoulders or the ditch slopes;
- the clearing of waste material such as debris, vegetation and silt from the ditches, catchwater drains and run-off drains;
- the maintaining of the original cross-sections of ditches, catchwater drains and run-off drains;
- the clearing of silt and debris from culverts, drifts and other structures to allow a free flow of water.
It is important to remember that whenever routine maintenance becomes excessive (something which will have to be judged from
case to case) reconstruction or realignment may be in order. If, for example, a culvert gets completely silted up after only a few
rains, it is quite likely that either it is placed too low or not laid in the correct slope downwards. In both cases, the water cannot
flow freely so that the silt can settle. The re-positioning of this culvert will, in the long term, certainly prove to be cheaper than the
continuous removing of silt.
Always ensure that the workers responsible for carrying out certain activities have the right type and quality of tools to do the job.
For example, a long-handled shovel should be provided for the cleaning of culvert pipes. Also, maintenance workers should have
the possibility to repair/sharpen their tools when necessary. It is good practice for example to carry a number of maintenance tools
and materials (pliers, bolts, nuts for wheelbarrows, a saw and some hardwood wedges to repair handles, etc.) during inspection
tours. Workers can sign for such tools and keep them for a limited period, returning them during the next inspection tour.