Future-proofing roads
We are committed to ensuring that the potential impacts of a changing climate are considered when designing new infrastructure. In May 2011, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs launched a report outlining the challenges of climate change facing the transport, energy, water and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure sectors.
The report, Climate Resilient Infrastructure: Preparing for a Changing Climate, asks organisations that directly manage these areas to integrate potential climate change impacts into infrastructure design. It also calls on engineers to develop new materials, techniques and designs to improve the resilience of infrastructure projects to deal with severe weather.
At the time of the report’s release, Tim Smith, technical manager at Tarmac National Contracting, commented: “Future-proofing our roads is inextricably linked to adequate road funding and changing the way we think about our roads. The Government needs to recognise that adapting the UK road asset to cope with climate change will be even more challenging owing to the structural decline of our roads from years of under-funding. To carry out the necessary reconstruction to future-proof our network, more funds need to be channelled into doing so to manage them as a long-term asset.”
Industry collaboration is vital to achieve this. Surfacing providers can play an important role by developing climate-resilient materials and educating the network operators regarding their uses and benefits. Equally, contractors must ensure that they follow specifications and best practice, focusing in particular on sealing road joints and bonds [OK?] between layers. Engineers should prioritise the issue of water ingress and adequate drainage, and maintenance of this drainage.
Ultimately, this rests on Government recognition of the link between road funding for maintenance and future-proofing our roads. Although the Climate Resilient Infrastructure report did a good job of calling on network operators and wider industry to take action, it did not address the Government’s key role in this collective response.
