The introduction of an improved British Standard guidance document can offer local councils a solution for tackling the highways maintenance backlog, says Brett Landscaping.
The publication of BS 7533-102 could hold the key to highways repair regimes for local councils over the next decade, as councils must publish annual reports on road maintenance progress.
It has been estimated that local authorities require £16.8bn to bring the road network up to existing ‘ideal’ conditions, with 52% of the UK road network under local council control having less than 15 years structural life remaining. This is more than 106,000 miles of road across the UK.
Local Authorities are being urged to have ‘a complete change in mindset away from short term funding to longer term funding commitments’ by implementing longer term preventative maintenance strategies that include robust plans for wetter winters. This will give them greater access to an increased level of funding they require over the next five to 10 years.
Brett Landscaping is advising that alongside the update of BS 7533-13: 2009 “Guide for the design of permeable pavements constructed with concrete paving blocks and flags, natural stone slabs and setts and clay pavers” Local Authorities have been provided with practical solutions for the surface layers for adoptable estate roads which dramatically reduces the risk of potholing.
BS 7533-102 is an updated British Standard document that brings together several previous British Standard documents developed over the past decade and clarifies some different approaches on the recommendations and guidance on the installation of pavements surfaced with modular paving.
This new document offers definitive installation guidance over the use of concrete clay pavers, concrete and stone slabs or flags and concrete based permeable paving (CBPP) and applies to all paved areas subjected to axle loads of standard highway vehicles up to a total of 30 million standard axles (msa) over the course of the highway lifetime. This includes a huge network of small housing estate roads under control of local councils.
The use of CBPP and other modular paving systems over less robust systems offers greater surface water management. They act as a source control if water can infiltrate back to ground, they can attenuate the surface water discharge, as well as clean the water and discharge at a controlled rate once a storm event has passed.
CBPP pavements have the ability to replicate the natural environment by absorbing a 5mm rainfall event with no discharge from the system and cleaning the surface water flow via their two levels of water treatment.
Furthermore they are easier to maintain as failing systems can be lifted up and refilled beneath any undulations, rather than requiring a patchwork of asphalt in-fills, offering councils a ready to go solution to help recalculate their highways maintenance requirements.
Jamie Gledhill, technical engineer at Brett Landscaping, said: “The recent report on the highways maintenance backlog implores local councils to take a different approach to their management of local roads and highways.
“The standardisation of installation guidance for modular paving into BS 7533 102 might not be a much-heralded document, but it does offer councils a ready-made option to put into greater use a range of established, trusted and low maintenance systems for highways that will meet most requirements for local councils looking to secure further government funding.
“Our work installing CBPP systems in Mansfield under the Flood Resilience Scheme and in Hull as part of investment in surface water management schemes are already producing desired results, including a drastic reduction in untreated surface water reaching treatment plants.”
Brett Landscaping has issued a research paper, developed using sites across Wakefield Council to demonstrate the long-term effectiveness and low maintenance requirements of CBPP on standard low traffic estate roads. The paper is free to download from https://www.brettlandscaping.co.uk/professional/brett/research-from-brett-landscaping-demonstrates-the-enduring-effectiveness-of-cbpp
