Ukravtodor prepares roads for the winter

Road services have prepared Ukrainian roads for the winter period. From the beginning of 2013, potholes and pits were liquidated on over 6.5 million square meters of roads. Also, renovation of 7,700 km of local roads is planned for the 2014, the Information-Analytical Bulletin of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine reports.

Moreover, steps to prevent formation of potholes on the road surface caused by non-compliance with weight restrictions are taken. As Olexander Kharchenko, deputy chairman of the State Agency of automotive roads of Ukraine said, the annual volume of motor traffic on the Ukrainian roads is up 5%. The lion's share of this number is heavy trucks, the transit ones, in particular, one fifth of which are overloaded by 20-40%.

"Today on Ukrainian roads there are trucks whose weight exceeds 60-70 tons, despite the fact that most roads are built 30-40 years ago to 6.8 tons per axle, and they do not meet today's standards, even with current strength of road surface loads - 10-11 tons. This leads to destructive processes and generates pits. And exceeding of these standards generally causes catastrophic destruction," said Kharchenko.

Ukravtodor is ready to eliminate deformity of road surface for traffic safety even in winter. "To fight the newly formed potholes, the road companies have already prepared 13.3 tons of cold mixes that allow to perform emergency repairs on the road surface even during inclement winter weather conditions", deputy head of Ukravtodor said. In addition, the service will ensure the continuing operation of the road infrastructure in the winter. First days of December have shown that the actions of road workers were prompt and efficient.

According to Ukravtodor, the road maintenance organizations currently have 1,085 tons of sand, 129,600 tons of technical salt, 3.43 million tons of diesel fuel and 1.491 million tons of petrol, which both meets the plan, and show growth from last year.