Transport Insights

The current fashion for renewals and preventative maintenance on our road networks has inevitably led to highway authorities labelling repairs, which are by definition reactive, as “proactive”.

Take for example, this BBC story about repairs to structures on the A3 at Guildford:

Crumbling dual carriageway ‘needs fixing now’

A crumbling dual carriageway in Surrey must be repaired immediately or will be unusable in “three to four” years, National Highways says.

The Dennis Interchange bridges in Guildford are undergoing major repairs, as water and salt from the road has rusted metalwork inside the supporting pillars below.

Pretty clear then that the structures have got to the point where they need to be repaired – and are being repaired – right now. Traffic is being diverted through the city centre during two full weekend closures.

But wait:

Nick Axford, project manager at National Highways, said “We’re doing a proactive repair now to bring everything up to full strength and make it last for years to come.”

Funnily enough, in April:

National Highways said the repair project would reduce the need for disruptive maintenance in future, and give drivers a safer, smoother journey.

It is of course usually the other way round.

On a similar theme, Highways magazine has just published my article (p28) on the weight restriction that has been introduced on Vauxhall Bridge in London, which Transport for London (TfL) told me is due to corrosion on a steel crossbeam.

The piece discusses the fact, which I have covered before, that TfL implemented a renewals freeze in 2018, which it knew would come back to haunt it, which it did.

Now it doesn’t seem to have the cash to do what seems to be a very expensive repair, plus the refurbishment that might have prevented the corrosion.

The article includes a comment by Mahmood Siddiqi, a past president of the Local Government Technical Advisers Group:

We should never find ourselves having to carry out urgent repair work to our bridge structures. A programme of inspections and assessment should highlight any necessary interventions before they become critical.

Or you could just label your urgent repair work as proactive.