Highway
maintenance is defined as preserving and keeping the serviceable conditions of
highway as normal as possible practicable. The main objective of road
maintenance management are allocation of available maintenance resources
according to actual needs and priorities. If the maintenance works are not done
at all or done faulty or the pavement structure is inadequate for present day
and loading.
“Road maintenance is a series of
interdependent activities carried out for preserving and keeping road, road
side, highway, furniture, structure and other facilities in the best
possible condition to provide satisfactory and safe transportation along the
highway with the optimum cost.
Depending upon
the various types of failure and remedial maintenance operations highway
maintenance can be calssified as :-
A. Routine maintenance: - Maintenance
operation of localized nature required continually on any road whatever it’s
engineering characteristics. The works are generally carried out by forced
labour or petty contractor. It covers
the following activities:-
i. sweeping of
roads.
ii. Maintenance
of shoulders.
iii. Cutting of
grasses
iv. Cleaning of
culverts.
v. Clearing of
bridges.
vi. Cleaning of
minor sides.
vii. Cleaning of
road furniture.
viii. Cleaning
of side drains.
ix. Minor
re-shaping of drains.
x. Draining the
logged water.
B. Recurrent Maintenance:- Maintenance operation of localized nature
of limited extent carried out at more or less regular interval of six months to
years with a frequency that depends on traffic volume. The works are generally
carried out by contract by the use of minor equipment. It covers the activities
like pot hole patching, edge repair, holes and ruts repair, depression repair,
local reconstruction etc.
C. Periodic Maintenance:- Maintenance
operation of large extent required at interval of several years. It covers the
renewal of wearing surface, repairing the damaged portions of side drains,
repairing earth retaining wall, repairing parapet wall and railing at bridges
and culverts, resealing, resurfacing etc.
D. Emergency Maintenance:- Maintenance
Operation of highway generally done after 10 years. Any unfavorable conditions
rising before this period is known as emergency maintenance. Thus emergency
maintenance are divided into two categories.
i) Reinstatement
of road after critical period is over by reconstruction of the pavement, the
structure and the drainage as the case may be.
ii)
Urgent emergency maintenance works needed for reopening the road construction
of temporary diversion to allow the traffic to pass around the obstruction such
as landslides, road washout etc
