Mario James, Gleaner Writer

James

A 'sinkhole' at the corrner of Constant Spring and Dunrobin Avenue.

Time and time again Automotives has used this space to trumpet the financial power that we 'autoists' possess. The Government has realised this also, and being in a position of power, they are always in a position to fleece us of our earnings, kicking us in the rump like the shorn sheep we are, our woeful bleating falling on deaf ears.

Historically, the transport sector has always been the first to be sheared when budgetary shortfalls exist. The current administration has already found us to be a ready source of cash, as we sheep are so disillusioned we trod blindly oblivious to the shearing that awaits. Was it George Orwell's writings that intimated sheep were stupid?

gang banging

Jamaica - via its tax laws - perpetuate a spectacular gang-banging of the Jamaican motorist. The auto sector contributes the largest slice of the pie towards government intake. Yet, the returns on such a huge investment in the country are not tangible. The benefits are vapid, spirit-like, even; best described in terms of hopes and dreams.

We should demand better. In 1997, the then works minister, the Honorable Roger Clarke, spent J$59 million to redo most of the Bog Walk gorge from the ground up. General Paving Company got the contract, and work was finished ahead of time and under budget, 11 years ago. The reconstructors of the river bed conduit were praised for the quality of work and their businesslike attitude in observing the deadline. It would be one of the few times that a local contractor would be praised for such a feat.

excavation

The arms of government sometimes act as if they act independently of their central nervous system, for less than a year later a lot of the newly laid road was dug up to lay a smaller main on top of the original 24-inch piping. It would seem as if this subsequent excavation may have contributed to the current state of the gorge road after the passing of Tropical Storm Gustav last weekend.

In most of the pictures this writer has seen of the damage to the road surface, the water has gained purchase only on the more freshly excavated trench. While it could be debated that the conditions that existed during Gustav's onslaught would overwhelm the design criteria of any asphalt cap that could be conceived, no such argument could hold sway for the body of the road. Not for the length of time that the river inundated the road. The fact that most of the retaining walls withstood the forces of Gustav impact lends credence to this theory. It is also amazing that a little stone bridge built in 1915 is able to withstand the recent fury virtually unscathed while the modern roadway is in ruins.

Whether the gorge road should or should not be abandoned is not the issue here. The fact is that road works in Jamaica are not held to a high standard. In contrast, Japan, has a road programme which reconstructs any road that has had a service life of more 10 years, regardless of the road's condition.

In light of this, National Works Agency's Steven Shaw had the temerity to intimate to the Jamaican public via the electronic media that contractually a tender holder only has an obligation to ensure that his work stands up to the rigours of traffic for six months to a year. Come a year and a day he is no longer liable for its condition.

asphalt network

The previous administration could have written a book on how not to manage road repair. Shaw's revelation is indicative of the life expectancy of our asphalt network. In 1999, a certain paving company was questioned about the work it did on the Fern Gully surface in 1997, and the sitting administration doled out approximately half the cost to fix road work that should have been properly done from the get go. Are we sheep or what?

Also recently resurfaced is the Dunrobin Avenue/Constant Spring Road intersection. This junction was redone after an unfortunate mishap involving a Merl Grove student a few years ago. Astonishingly, a 'sinkhole' has appeared there after Gustav pelted it. No running water this time, but a hole big enough to eat your average SUV has blistered the bitumen.

potholes

Civil engineers have told Automotives that if the substrate has not been compacted (rolled) properly, the body of the road settles over time, and the passage of the heavier units causes the substrate to fall away from the asphalt cap, resulting in potholes and/or ripples in the road, like the aforementioned road irregularity and those that existed a couple of corners after cresting Stony Hill.

Jamaica's template for road design does not seem to take into account traffic conditions. Roads built by local contractors have the same bitumen surface thickness whether the load is 50 cars daily or 5,000. With politicians serving up corruption as a staple, it is not too far a stretch to see who is being sheared here.

If my car is swallowed up by a 'sinkhole', somebody better have my money.

The Rio Cobre has virtually created a second course along a section of the roadway in the Bog Walk gorge, St Catherine.- Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

columns@gleanerjm.com