The work that Selwyn District Council carries out falls into three distinct workstreams:

Maintenance activities that need to be planned, priced and delivered as part of monthly programmed works to Councils design specification standards.

Sealed Road Maintenance

Maintaining sealed road surfaces to Councils agreed LOS set out in the LTP. This involes repairs like potholes, small strengthening jobs and shoulder repairs. Larger jobs are completed as capital works.

Unsealed Road Maintenance

Maintaining unsealed road surfaces to the Councils agreed LOS set out in the LTP. This involes repairs like potholes, grading and spreading small patches of stones for the final surface layer. Larger jobs are completed as capital works.

Structures Maintenance

This involves fixing things like sight rails, fences, guard rails and retaining walls. Replacement jobs are completed as capital works.

Drainage Maintenace

This involves fixing things like unsealed road shoulders, <30m sections of kerb and channel, sumps and catchpits. Replacement of kerb and channel >30m are completed as capital works.

Signs Maintenance

This involves fixing signs that may have been blown over, turned around, broken or faded.

Footpath Maintenance

This involves fixing <30m sections of footpath and prioritising tripping hazards. Anything >30m are completed as capital works.

These are everyday activities that are delivered without having to be approved before they take place. These activities ensure the roading network is maintained in a safe and clean state, and in a condition that meets Councils agreed Levels Of Service (LOS).

Vegetation Control

This involves trimming vegetation to ensure visibility at road intersections, which could be anything from grass cutting, to trimming branches.

Road Marking

This involves the inspection and testing of existing road markings and the repainting of roads that do not meet the required standards (add link to remarking schedule).

Pothole Repairs

This involves fixing potholes as a temporary repair; it does not include the long-term permanent fixes.

Traffic Sign and Marker Repairs

This involves things like cleaning signs and markers, as well as installing missing marker pegs etc. to ensure roads are delineated wherever required.

Litter Collection

This involves collecting illegally dumped rubbish, like household rubbish, furniture, garden waste or household pets. It doesn't include pest animals like possums, birds, rats, or cattle.

Road Sweeping

Not all roads are swept, the ones that get swept are done so on a cyclic basis (add link to sweeping schedule).

Emergency Works

This involves responding to things like vehicle accidents, spillages, weather events.

Renewing road surfaces to provide greater waterproofing and improve skid resistance. It also adds strength to roads that have been identified as not being strong enough to take the weight of the road and vehicles that use it.

Asphalt Resurfacing

This involves removing aged asphalt and replacing it with new asphalt to improve waterproofing and increase grip (add link to FWV & video).

Chipseal Resurfacing

This involves applying a new chipseal surface over the old one to improve waterproofing and increase grip (add link to FWV & video).

Microsurfacing

This involves applying a very thin layer over the existing surface in order to waterproof it and extend the life of the existing pavement (add link to FWV & video).

Rejuvenation surfacing

This involves applying a very thin layer over the existing surface in order to counter the effects of oxidisation (ageing) and extend the life of the existing surface and pavement (add link to FWV & video).

Road strengthening

This involves removing soft spots in the road and replacing it with stronger materials or bridging over soft spots to strengthen the roads.

Drainage Renewals

This involves renewing drainage infrastructure that no longer functions correctly (add link to FWV & video).

Footpath Renewals

This involves renewing aged and damaged footpaths that are beyond maintenance (add link to FWV & video).

Which roads are resealed?

The roads being resealed are determined by consideration of road condition data collected both externally (independent assessment) and internally (by Council staff and from the road maintenance contractor). Prioritisation of reseals is governed by the road condition, strategic fit, best for asset considerations, financial prudence and road hierarchy.

Materials used

The reseals on rural roads are predominantly chip seals. Urban reseals are a mixture of chip seals and a thin asphalt seal. The thin asphalt seals are mainly placed on main streets within townships that carry higher traffic volumes, and at the end of cul-de-sacs to cope with the turning traffic. There is an increasing number of new urban streets as part of the subdivision development that have an asphalt seal, which means there is likely to be an increase in the future for urban reseals using asphalt. There is also growing demand for some of the older chip-sealed streets in our township to be resurfaced with asphalt, so they match the newer subdivision roads.

Getting the area ready

Preparation for the placement of asphalt includes surface levelling of uneven areas and milling at the kerb and channel, as well as the start and end of the site to provide a tidy seal join. This work may be done a few days in advance of the placement of asphalt.

Preparation for chip seals includes trimming of high shoulders to improve drainage, repairs to potholes and edge break, dig out repair of failed areas and surface levelling of slumped areas and trenches. This work is done as part of the pavement maintenance.

Road speed during works

To protect the reseal sites and workers during the resealing operation there will be reduced temporary speed limits set at the various stages of the reseal. These protect the new seal from damage, while the binder remains soft and minimises the chance of loose stones flicking up and hitting vehicles.

For your own safety, the safety of the workers and to protect the new seal, please observe the speed limit. It is usually only for a short distance. Even when there is no activity at the site, if there are warning signs in place please take care, as the carriageway may be prepared for the reseal or the reseal may have just been recently completed. The signs will not be removed until the surplus chip has been lifted, and the road markings have been reinstated.

When work is completed

The new seal remains susceptible to damage for many weeks after the reseal. Care is needed to ensure that there is no sharp turning of heavy vehicles, strong acceleration, etc. as these actions will cause damage to the new seal.

We apologise for any inconvenience the resealing may cause and thank you for your patience while these works are carried out for the improvement of the sealed road network.

For enquiries, please email transportation@selwyn.govt.nz