Tag: asphalt

May 4th – I’ve noticed over the ;past few days that engineers have been examining a lot of local roads since the cold, wet winter left many in a parlous state.

Walsall Council on the whole have been very good at dealing with damage, but more can always be done. Here in Darlaston on a number of streets – but most noticeably Station Street and Darlaston Road – technicians have taken periodic core samples to see how thick the road surges is and what it’s composed of. 

This helps with resurfacing, and knowing how much to plane away before laying new tarmac.

When the sample is taken, the perfectly round hole left is filled, leaving this curious scar.

Looks like we’ll be getting some better road surfaces in Darlo soon, then…

November 23rd – I mentioned this earlier in the week, but it’s deadly at the moment, so bears mentioning again – watch the paths and cycleways at the moment. They’re more slippery than a grease deal dipped in baby oil.

Algea, leaf mulch and general damp slime are combining to make the less well used paths treacherous. I nearly lost the bike twice today. The main reason is.a few days of light drizzle, but not enough rain to actually cleanse anything. 

Although the routes in Telford are beautiful, they are to be ridden very, very carefully – and they’ll be in the same state everywhere.

March 23rd – The towpath resurfacing between Walsall town centre and Bentley Mill Way continues, as I noted earlier in the week, tarmac is being laid on top of compacted ballast. It’s a nice enough surface, but I’m still bemused by the pointlessness of it all.

Today I passed as they work crew were filling a butty with hot asphalt, ready to spread and roll. The ease with which it tipped from the excavator bucket and the steam that billowed suggested it was very hot indeed – and it made me wonder how it was heated – in the yard or from the place it was produced? I suppose the limestone grit it’s made from has quite a high specific heat capacity, so it must hold heat awhile.

One thing I always love about hot tarmac is the smell. It’s one of the really strong smells I recall for some reason from my childhood, and one sniff of it and I’ back in the schoolyard.

Funny how smells do that to you.

March 21 – The resurfacing of the canal towpath between Walsall town centre and Bentley Mill Way continues apace; I noted today that sections of the route have a newly-laid tarmac surface. It’s a nice job.

I still can’t get my head around this. I’m not ungrateful – I use this route regularly and it’ll be nice to ride – but this money would have been much better elsewhere on the local canal network – like the stretch from Longwood to Rushall Junction or from Goscote to Pelsall.

The Canal and River Trust are beyond my comprehension sometimes.

January 29th – Micro asphalt is a pain in the arse. There are several installations of it in Walsall that I know to. The system is simple; a thin layer of resin-based coating is applied to a poor road surface, levelling the dips and sealing cracks. Unlike conventional tarmac, this is a chemical adhesive process. It’s way cheaper than resurfacing fully, and purportedly much more effective than tar and chipping.

Sadly within Walsall, in places it doesn’t seen to have gone too well.

Manufacturers claim a life of 20 years for an application, but this stretch in Green Lane, Shelfield is only a couple of years old, and is already forming potholes and ruts like a ploughed field. 

It’s actually easier to see the effect on a wet night, as the water pools in the ridges and dips. Riding over this is afoul and makes steering unpredictable.

This road is now worse to ride than before the new surface was applied. Nice work, Walsall. Nice work…