BIG FIX WORKS GO ON
FIJI ROADS AUTHORITY MAKING PROGRESS IN CAPITAL We want to progressively reduce the number of pothole repairs undertaken by rehabilitating and resealing roads; we are also changing the methodology to provide patch repairs: FRA CEO
Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) chief executive officer Jonathan Moore has confirmed that the authority is progressing well towards completing road rehabilitation works on various sections in the Central Division.
“We want to progressively reduce the number of pothole repairs undertaken by rehabilitating and resealing roads; we are also changing the methodology to provide patch repairs (as opposed to individual pothole repairs) that have more structural integrity, and therefore more resilience,” he said.
“There comes a point in time when we can’t do pothole repairs anymore; and right now, we cannot repair certain parts of Princes Road with pothole repairs, not just Princes Road – there are other roads around Suva that are the same. Those are beyond pothole repairs so now we have to rehabilitate those roads. The plan is to do as much rehabilitation as possible, because rehabilitation is proven to work and gives the life of a road around 20-25 years.
“It can take a month to rehabilitate a road – it depends on many issues such as the underlining condition of the road prior to rehabilitation, the weather around stabilisation and sealing as well as the environment adjacent to the site. In the current case, China Railways 5th Group is not just rehabilitating Ratu Sukuna Road – they are concurrently doing rehabilitation work on Ratu Sukuna, Princes Road, Fletcher Road, Ratu Mara Road (at Nabua) and Karsanji Street).”
The authority has completed one section on Princes Road, Ratu Sukuna and Fletcher Road.
Works on the Nabua Commercial Area, Karsanji Street and Nabua Bypass Road are said to be progressing well.