As Promised: Manzini Council Already Attending To Damaged Roads
As promised last week, the Municipal Council of Manzini has already started attending to the road infrastructure that was damaged by the recent rains which poured almost non-stop over a two-week period. Municipal employees were yesterday spotted in different parts of the city attending to the damaged roads as well as other service faults. In the last two days since the rains stopped, a number of roads have already been covered. Stabilised gravel patching has already been applied on various roads in the Central Business District (CBD), Central Distributor road (popularly known as Mavuso bypass road), Acacia road in Coates Valley, Fairview road, Stanley street near Ludwala in Ngwane Park and Meintjies; which is largely utilised by public transport into and out of the main bus rank. If no more rains are received in the next few days the pending roads such as Collins and Thelma in Ngwane Park, Mimosa in Coates Valley and the portion of Tenbergen street near Sydney Williams School will have been fully covered by end of this week. Bitumen patching will then later be applied.
Noteworthy is that gravel roads have also been affected by the rains but not that much. The Municipality has already started attending to those that need attention through blading using a grader. A number of storm water drains were clogged during the rains. Ever since the rains came to an end, storm water drains within Woodmasters township, Ngwane Park, along William Pitcher road, Central Distributor as well as the Meintjies and Riverstone bridges have been unblocked. The electrical section of the Municipality was yesterday also found in various parts of the city, fixing non-functional street and high mast lights. The Municipality’s refuse collection trucks were also seen roaring in various parts of the city; with Council employees ensuring that all waste that was due for pick-up was collected. Street sweepers were also found in various streets in the city centre; either picking litter or sweeping the streets. Citizens are implored to continue reporting service faults through the Municipality’s 24/7 Call Centre (800 2004/2505 7000).
…WHY STABILISED GRAVEL IS USED TO PATCH POTHOLES
Many a citizen often wonder why the Municipality sometimes patches potholes using stabilised gravel. The reason is that after heavy rains, some potholes become too deep that it becomes impossible to directly apply bitumen patching. Bitumen cannot be applied on potholes that are deeper than four millimetres (4mm). Therefore, the stabilised gravel is then used as a base layer. Stabilised gravel is a mixture of cement and gravel. Another common reason for the use of stabilised gravel is that when the pothole is still wet or moist it becomes impossible to apply bitumen patching. Bitumen is an oil based solution and oil and water do not mix. The bitumen does not bond well with a wet or moist surface.
