Denbighshire road repaired a third time in five weeks

Jun 3 2009 by Kelly Fenna, Denbigh Visitor

MATERIAL used to surface a major road, has been found to be faulty for the third time in the space of a few weeks.

Contractors working on a drainage scheme at Tan yr Unto Bends, Llanbedr DC, near Ruthin, first surfaced it on April 28, but days later the material was found to be contaminated with mudstone – which leads to reduced grip.

Daniel Contractors Ltd did the work again on May 8 and 9, but again the material was defective.

Motorists now face three more weeks of chaos when the resurfacing starts again on September 2.

The North Wales Trunk Road Agency, who are in charge of the scheme, in partnership with Denbighshire County Council, will not allow the work to be done before that to avoid disrupting traffic during the summer months.

Mudstone contamination has also affected resurfacing on the A483 at Ruabon near Wrexham, where repairs on that busy main road will have to be redone by Jones Bros (Civil Engineering).

In Llanbedr DC, a Denbighshire council spokeswoman gave assurances that the road surface is safe to use and said such problems will never happen again on the highways network.

She said: “The problem identified is with the durability of a small percentage of the aggregate within the surfacing, problems which significantly reduces life expectancy.

“The surfacing will be monitored weekly over coming months to ensure the performance is satisfactory.”

The material supplier has agreed to cover all works costs associated with the material replacement.

But the news last night angered motorists.

One said: “The Ruthin to Mold road is a very busy one and this is most inconvenient. There are enough roadworks as it is.”