Climate change is to blame for Hull’s ‘terrifying’ roads
CITY COUNCIL CLAIMS WEATHER IS HAVING IMPACT ON ROADS
CLIMATE on Hull’s claimed.
City council officials say an increase in extreme weather in recent years combined with the way many roads in Hull were originally built has created a perfect storm.
Many of the worst routes are now officially classed as being at risk of “catastrophic” failure.
The council currently has a £99m backlog of outstanding work needed to tackle the issue, but has only around £6m a year to spend on them.
Most roads across the city were built using individual sections of layered concrete pieced together like a jigsaw.
However, traditional wet ground conditions are now combining with extreme weather to speed up the rate of deterioration, leading to more potholes and, in more serious cases, complete carriageway failures.
Garry Taylor, the council’s director of major projects, said recent urgent reconstruction works in Park Street, Clarence Street and Walton Street were all the result of unexpected major failures.
“This is all to do with the historic construction of the roads and the extreme climate shift between hot, cold and wet weather,” he said.
“What we are seeing is increased degradation in what is, in effect, a floating concrete road system which sits on top of the equivalent of an 18-metre layer of tomato ketchup.
“It’s why we are getting more failures every year.
“If you think about the rafts floating on land which is like tomato ketchup and when that tomato ketchup heats up and cools, and when water gets underneath, it all moves around and sometimes it gets shifted completely.
“Because of the unique construction we have got in Hull, it is more susceptible to climate change and that’s what we are finding.
“Because we are seeing these extreme events, we are seeing the whole network degrade at a significantly faster rate than we have done historically.
“We are experimenting with different materials on the current resurfacing works on the core routes. change is wreaking havoc road network, it has been
“These materials are meant to be climate resilient and are supposed to reduce the impact on the concrete layer below in terms of cushioning. Hopefully they will be successful.
“However, the level of investment we need to catch up on the historic degradation of the network is somewhere in the region of £99m.
“Bearing in mind, we only have £6m just to deal with the degradation in any one year.”
Mr Taylor said every major running into the city centre suffering the same problem.
As a result, the council’s highways team is carrying out detailed survey work trying to work out how much wear and tear there is between each layer of concrete laid on certain routes.
“Every single part of our network is red or amber risk in terms of catastrophic failure.
“We do what we can with the funding we have got and I think we are doing a pretty good job in drawing in funds to do significant works.”
He said the impact of a sudden road failure on Hull’s wider highways network was always likely to be high.
“If any of our roads fail, the economic impact is significant because of the confines of our city, the fact we haven’t got an outer ring road, we are reliant on the A63 and we have got a great river down the middle and lots of bridges.
“Our resilience isn’t great if our roads fail, which allows us to make a strong case for (extra) funding.”
Councillor Jackie Dad, a member of the council’s infrastructure and energy scrutiny commission, described the situation as “terrifying”. road was
WE all know an every day hero who has helped to guide us through the trials and tribulations of the past 12 months.
Perhaps the postie who brightens your day with a smile and a kind word? Or your child’s headteacher who loans out laptops so he can access home learning? Maybe the charity working tirelessly through lockdown to provide clothing, toiletries, nappies, toys, prams and cots to families in need? Or the little girl down the road whose compassion and quick thinking may have helped to save the life of her grandfather?
These are real examples of people and charities who have already been nominated in Hull Live’s uplifting annual awards - now in its eight year to celebrate the achievements of the region’s unsung heroes,
In 2019, inspiring tales of commitment and courage included Hull boxing legend, Tommy Coyle. He was recognised for the outstanding work his organisation the
Tommy Coyle Foundation, does for the community by winning the Heart of East Yorkshire Awards.
Now we want to hear from you.
Who has inspired you, helped you, been there for you in the most difficult year of 2020?
The Hull Heart Awards has 10 categories, see below, including Local Hero, Key Worker of the Year, Emergency Services Worker of the Year, Friend/neighbour of the Year, Community Sports, Business in the Community and Child of Courage - so there is bound to be a category to fit your nominee.
Every nomination received will be considered by a panel of judges from Hull Live, who will draw up a shortlist. This shortlist will then be presented to an independent panel, which will choose a winner for each category.
Here we look at the heart-warming stories of some of those already nominated Key Worker of the Year
East Yorkshire headteacher Lee
Hill is something of a superhero for his pupils and parents, as one parent notes: “Mr Hill has been an incredible headteacher through this pandemic. He has hosted lots of events at the school to give the children something to look forward to. He made Christmas magical with an inflatable Santa and snowball fighting! He has ensured no child goes hungry and has loaned out laptops so all children can access home learning. He has prioritised the welfare and happiness of the children and they have enjoyed being at school despite the horrors going on in the world at the moment”
Incredibly, the super head has, since the start of the January lockdown, helped to raise £20,000 in donations for ventures related to his school and wider community.
Child of Courage
One nominee is little Scarlett who went “above and beyond” to help the family when her grandfather came out of hospital. In fact, it was Scarlett,
then aged just eight, who ran into the kitchen to get her granddad’s blood testing machine when he became seriously unwell, As her mum performed CPR, Scarlett looked after her brothers, making drinks and breakfast and even changing the youngest’s nappy.
“I can’t tell you how amazing she is,” says her mum.
Key Worker of the Year
Postie Nick Smith has done a great deal more for residents in Walkington than just delivering letters, as one grateful resident explains: “Through thick and thin, in all weathers throughout the lockdowns he has trudged through our village not only just delivering our mail, but delivering a wonderful smile to everyone.
“For those of us who have had to shield constantly, his face is quite possibly the only face we see on a daily basis and that smile has kept us going. He’s helped people, chatted with us all and basically been a ray of sunshine when all around us is doom and gloom.
“Some would say, he is just a postman, well actually, he isn’t just that, he has been a life saviour to a lot of our elderly in the village at a very difficult time.”
Charity Champion
Based in Beverley, Bundles of Joy supports families in crisis across
Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire, with a focus on the needs of babies and children.
This nominee certainly epitomes the can-do spirit of the region’s charity sector.
In 2019 the charity responded to a total of 728 referrals from healthcare professionals, and last year this number increased to 1297 referrals, making 2020 the busiest year to date (every referral represents a vulnerable family in need in our local community).
Founder Claire Raper and her team worked continually throughout every lockdown and - even operating with a reduced number of volunteers due to Covid - Bundles of Joy managed to respond to every referral, as well as organising a special Christmas Appeal.