Potholes, leave GOD out of it.

This 1st appeared in the Herald dt Sept 2018

Recently the PWD Minister blamed the rains for the potholes in the roads, or in many cases roads among the potholes. God sends rain so indirectly he was blaming God for his department ineffectiveness. If what he said was true, we know that as far as Goa is concerned every square inch of land gets rain pouring on it. So, logically there should not be a pothole free road at the end of every monsoon.

Yet to the Citizens good fortune there are roads unaffected by the entire season of rain, for example one can drive on the Margao Panaji Highway and except for the areas where the 8 Lane bridge work is on going most of the road is pretty pothole free. The four lane Airport road, built by Border Roads Organisation, a pleasure to drive on and the Sonsoddo Macazana road untouched for a decade imagine the savings from well built roads like this. Surely the Gods are not partial. They do not look down and say we will spare this road or that. There is another explanation.

The explanation is simple and should have been given by the PWD’s technical people. Pot holes have a direct relations to road engineering and material used. This seemingly simple fact is ignored when we hear the powers that be say, once it stops raining we will repair the potholes. They do under urgency clauses where the specification is cover the pothole and nothing else, so the pothole promptly appears the next time at the slightest hint of rain.They have now released Rs 10 crores for filling potholes. How does one estimate material required, surely something is being filled and it is not potholes for sure.

Road engineering is a highly specialised topic and takes into account many factors, most important is the load which would vary with the speed and braking. Related to the factors selected under load, the materials would have to be chosen, including thickness of the asphalt. Water is Enemy No1 of Asphalt, rain water or any water flowing over the road, drainage assumes a key significance.

Lets take example of the ARLEM circle and compare it with the COLVA circle. Both fairly close to each other so rainfall on both over the now ending rainy season would be similar if not equal. Yet the Colva circle was thankfully not worse for wear where as the Arlem circle resembled the moons surface, it could have been worse but for two or three touch ups done (read money poured into potholes).

Why would it happen? Load, the heavy trucks going through the Arlem circle are a lot more that what passes through the Colva circle, heavy 20/40 foot container trucks either heading to South India from the Port or Belgaum since they cannot use the Zuari bridge. The turning circle is not optimum and hence these trucks pull up the tamac as they have to turn on a point. So load is an issue and the asphalt is not able to handle it

The Colva circle never has much water accumulated except for the spot in front of the Colva exit where the road was dug to repair a pipeline. That is clearly the point where a major pothole has formed. The Arlem circle on the other hand has no such luck, the moment it rains water collects all around the Circle.

The black top seals and ensures no water enters the top layer. Road digging by sewerage or Reliance damage this seal coat. Then untrained contractors hired by these agencies do a careless half baked job of repairing the dug out portions. They do not bother with compaction or ensuring proper seal coat. With the first sign of water this becomes the starting point of the pothole. Arlem Circle has a Reliance Tower and a sewerage line passing next to it. This one example clearly shows the effect of road engineering and the fact that repairs are done by unskilled contractors leading to huge potholes and draining the exchequer.

Check the new concrete road in front of the Bambolim cross, it is supper bumpy. Imagine what will happen when the speed on that stretch increases once  the road opens, who has certified it today as fit for use? You can check the roads you use and post pictures on social media to highlight these issues.

The last factor that effects road quality is greed. Everyone looks at the PWD roads division as a money spinner and thus it is an “in demand” portfolio. This can only be curbed by insisting on multiyear guarantees for roads. General public will have no issue who makes money if they have a good porthole free road to ride on.

The lessons that can be learned is that road contractors must be held responsible for the roads they build, say three years guarantee and if any potholes develop they must repair the same free of cost. They must also write their name prominently besides the road they build.

It is a well known fact that in order to meet the lowest tender prices compromises are made in specifications which are glossed over when preparing the measuring sheets. Hence, tender specifications must be easily available so that in case of failure, it can be easily checked by any independent body. Eg: thickness of asphalt layer or water logging.

Any agency digging up the roads must ask PWD for permission and pay an amount sufficient to repair the road using proper road contractors, preferably the same contractor who built the road in the first place so there is no possibility of a blame game.

The effect of the heavy rains was plain to see and human errors and greed have made Gods rain a pain.