Readers will remember OnTheWight’s report earlier in the week when Highways PFI Contractor, Island Roads, admitted that the first phase of major road resurfacing failed to meet required standards.
We posed a series of questions to Island Roads on Tuesday and this afternoon (Friday) they responded, saying the poor standard of work was due to not being able to maintain the asphalt temperatures sufficiently during transit from their mainland supplier.
A spokesperson from Eurovia Ringway (parent company of Island Roads) told OnTheWight,
“The problem was in relation to maintaining asphalt temperatures in the surfacing materials as a result of the time delays in the haulage and shipment from the mainland.”
Medina Wharf application
As readers will be aware, Eurovia currently have a planning application for a proposed asphalt plant at Medina Wharf lodged with the council.
The application has been widely reported on and discussed through OnTheWight over the last year. The proposal has attracted huge opposition from local residents concerned about the health risks of an asphalt plant being positioned so close to built-up residential areas.
Giles: No link between plant and PFI contract
Eddie Giles, the former Cabinet member responsible for the Highways PFI Scheme, had insisted many times in the council chamber and at PFI roadshow meetings that there was “no link” between the PFI contract and the proposed asphalt plant.
However, a spokesperson from Eurovia Ringway told OnTheWight today,
“This [the problem with maintaining heat in asphalt] will continue to be a challenge until we can get a suitable high performance asphalt plant up and running on the Island.”
Some might consider this statement strongly suggests there is a direct link between Eurovia requiring planning permission for their proposed asphalt plant and Island Roads being able to fulfil their contract sufficiently.
Image: LissaLou66 under CC BY 2.0
