Dear Source:
The roads in William's Delight are going to get fixed according to your recent article. I almost fell off my chair when a member of the VI government said the road would last 20 years. I have never seen a road, even a secondary road last that long on the island. I have seen it in Arizona, where a secondary road lasts that long, but only because they "chip seal", which our government refuses to do. What happens with asphalt is the sun continues to dry the asphalt out. The materials are being evaporated out and the asphalt becomes brittle. As soon as cracks appear, water seeps through to the sub base. As soon as water permeates the sub base, heavy vehicles will sink through and destroy the asphalt.
If you want to see examples of this, visit East Scenic drive. Heavy concrete trucks have always come up here. There are several spots recently where heavy trucks have pouched down through the asphalt and surged up the pavement on the side of it. Chip seal would have prevented this. All potholes are created by moisture passing through in cracks. Seal these up and things will get better.
Paving is likely around $1,000,000 per mile. Chip seal is likely $50,000 or maybe $100,000 per mile or 1/20 to 1/10 the cost. Chip seal will double the life of any road, and if repeated, will triple the life. I traveled on many Arizona, secondary roads that were asphalt and were over 25 years old. They had been chip sealed 3 times or so. This saved taxpayers millions of dollars.
I have never seen 20-year-old pavement on this island. I have been here 8 years and have seen some heavy used highways paved more than once.
Ron Turley
Claremont
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