FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8,
1989.
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"THE MAINTENANCE EXPENDITURE IN 1988-89 WAS $370 MILLION AND THE ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE THIS YEAR IS $430 MILLION, AN INCREASE OF 16 PER CENT, HE SAID.
THE MAINTENANCE WORKS RANGED FROM THE REPAIR OF POTHOLES, REPLACEMENT OF STREET FURNITURE AND ROAD MARKINGS, TO PLANNED MAINTENANCE PROGRAMMES FOR RESURFACING AND REHABILITATION OF ROAD PAVEMENT.
MR KWEI SAID DURING THE LAST THREE YEARS, THE HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT HAD ALSO PUT MUCH EMPHASIS ON RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN ORDER TO IMPROVE HIGHWAY DESIGN, AND THE STANDARDS AND PLANNING OF OUR MAINTENANCE WORKS.
BASED ON THE STUDIES CARRIED OUT, A COMPUTERISED MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WAS INTRODUCED AIMING AT COST EFFECTIVE ALLOCATION OF FUNDS FOR ROAD MAINTENANCE.
A
ONE OF THE RESULTS OF THE DEPARTMENT'S RESEARCH WAS SPECIALLY DESIGNED LAYER OF ASPHALT MATERIAL WHICH HELPED TO REDUCE NOISE.
"THIS HAS BEEN PROVED TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND WILL BE APPLIED ΤΟ 14 SECTIONS OF FLYOVERS AND HIGHWAYS PHASED OVER A FOUR-YEAR PERIOD.
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'CURRENT RESEARCH IS CENTRED ON EXTENDING THE LIFE OF THIS OVERLAY HE SAID.
TOLO
曾
ON
FOLLOWING THE SUCCESSFUL TRIALS OF THE EXISTING WEIGHBRIDGE HIGHWAY WHERE VERY USEFUL DATA WERE COLLECTED ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES, IT WAS PROPOSED ΤΟ INSTALL FOUR MORE SIMILAR WEIGHBRIDGES AT STRATEGIC LOCATIONS OF THE LOCAL ROAD NETWORK, MR KWEI SAID.
THE DATA COLLECTED WOULD BE USED FOR UPGRADING DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR ROAD PAVEMENT.
ON ROAD OPENINGS, MR KWEI SAID IN ORDER 'TO STRENGTHEN CO-ORDINATION WITH THE UTILITIES,
COMMITTEE STRUCTURE HAD BEEN SET UP.
A
THREE-TIER
THIS INVOLVED
A
POLICY GROUP AT TOP MANAGEMENT LEVEL ΤΟ FORMULATE POLICIES; A TECHNICAL LIAISON COMMITTEE TO PROMOTE THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGY AND BETTER CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS: AND THE ROAD OPENING CO-ORDINATION COMMITTEE AT THE WORKING LEVEL HE EXPLAINED.
"EARLIER THIS YEAR WE INTRODUCED A REVISED SET OF CONDITIONS OF PERMIT WHICH STIPULATE IMPROVED STANDARDS ON ROAD OPENING WORKS SUCH AS GUARDING AND LIGHTING, SITE CLEANLINESS, SPOIL REMOVAL, MAINTAINING WALKWAYS FOR PEDESTRIANS, AND PUBLICITY BOARDS WITH TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR COMPLAINTS, HE SAID.
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