Utilities rap on works quality

By Marc Mustard

21st August 2009

Shoddy roadworks could be costing the economy as much as £400million a year in delays.

New Department for Transport (DfT) figures for England and Wales show nearly one in 10 works undertaken by utility companies falls short of acceptable standards and needs to be redone.

The DfT’s 2009 Impact Assessment provides information about the standard of road repairs carried out by independent utility firms. It says that 91,240 (eight per cent) of the 1,140,500 excavatory works undertaken each year “require remedial work” straight after completion – or, in other words, aren’t done properly in the first place.

The report claims that each set major of roadworks in densely populated areas can cost as much as £25,000 in delays every day – and that a reduction of only five per cent in the number of immediate fixes would provide annual congestion reduction benefits of £17.1m.

A DfT spokesperson said: “We have launched a consultation on the standards and techniques used to reinstate highways following works that should mean fewer failures. This will reduce the amount of remedial work, and cut congestion.”

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