Concerns raised over new tarmac laid in Lamberton Court & Bruce Grove

Last week contractors came to lay fresh tarmac at problem hotspots around Pencaitland. But some locals were concerned.

That concern centered around the belief that the new looking tarmac did not appear to have been compressed with a roller, leaving what looks a little like a black cake mix that hasn’t been given the rolling pin treatment to smooth it out.

The Community Council subsequently contacted East Lothian Council with these concerns, receiving a quick and detailed explanation from Stuart Baxter, Senior Area Officer West, highlighting why the newly covered roads look so different from traditional tarmac. We have reproduced the explanation below:

The process carried out in Lamberton Court and Bruce Grove this week is a Carriageway Microasphalt, this process is widely used by local authority road maintenance departments throughout the United Kingdom and is an excellent, preventative maintenance process that will seal a surface against the ingress of water and prevent further disintegration of the existing surface. This process is often used on the UK wide trunk road network and can extend the life of a road by up to ten years or even longer depending on the location and is an excellent cost effective means of prolonging the life of a road. The process involves 2 stages, the first stage is the application of the Microasphalt, during the second stage ironwork is raised to the new surface level , the second part of this process is still to be carried out at these locations. All works carried out by sub-contractors on behalf of East Lothian Council are supervised by an engineer and any defects detected during the construction or subsequent 12 months after construction are notified to the contractor for remedial works at their cost.

Mr Baxter also gave preliminary dates for when tarmac work is expected on both Woodhall Road and the main road through Pencaitland, from the crossroads at the eastern village entrance to the junction with Lempockwells Road.

The proposed resurfacing works on Woodhall Road and A6093 in Pencaitland are included in this year’s 2013-2014 programme of resurfacing works, Woodhall Road is currently programmed to be complete by the end of November 2013, however work to the A6093 is dependent on the successful completion of a proposed new gas supply to Glenkinchie which is currently due for completion late January 2014. All programmed dates are however subject to change due to other works and changes to priorities.