Further to yet further changes to the County Surface Dressing programme brought on by yesterdays deluge I can inform you that East Hill is now programmed for this Sunday 6th August. It remains the 3rd site of 4 on the day so they should not be expected very early morning.
Though the forecast is better there still remains the possibility of showers on the day that may cause yet further disruption. The advance notice signs on site will be updated to reflect the changes.
UPDATE - Highways have said that East Hill is the 3rd of 4 jobs on Monday and they do not expect to be on site until midday. They estimate the work will take 2 - 3 hours. Bin collections have been scheduled for early morning.
This is to let you know that, as part of the on-going maintenance and improvement of the highway network, Kent County Council will be working to improve the road surface of East Hill, South Darenth between the junctions of Horton Road and Rabbits Road.
These road surface improvement works are programmed to start on the 31 st July 2023 and should take 1 day to complete. These activities will be undertaken during a short working window between the hours of 7am and 7pm.
This type of work can be affected by bad weather, so if it is not possible for us to carry it out at this time, we will arrange a new date and let you know via a letter drop to your home. We will also put up signs along the road, before we start, showing the date we plan to start work.
During these essential works it will be necessary to close the road completely so that we can carry out the works safely for both the workforce and road users. During this closure, a diversion route will be in place via Horton Road, Jacob’s Lane and Skinney Lane.
The timings of works and how the ‘working window’ may affect you
Our surfacing improvement (Surface Dressing) is a very quick process and usually takes no more than half a day to complete. We therefore undertake a programme of several surfacing sites in a day, following on consecutively from each other, to maximise the economy of our surfacing. Consequently, it is not possible to give an exact time when we will attend your road in advance of the works as this is dependent on the progress at other sites during the day, however the works are programmed to be undertaken within the working window specified above.
hat we plan to do
We will use a process called ‘Surface Dressing’ to improve the road surface. Surface dressing is quick to apply, which means less disruption to road users, residents, local businesses and the emergency services. It is a cost-effective way of prolonging the life expectancy of the road before any major repair works are required. It also benefits from having a low carbon footprint.
Surface dressing is applied directly onto the existing road in two stages. The first is the application of a hot binder which is sprayed onto the road surface and the second is the laying of chippings onto the binder. (Sometimes we lay 2 or more layers of chippings depending on the design). These layers seal the surface to prevent water penetration, restore texture and improve skid resistance. The carriageway may then be rolled using a rubber wheeled roller. This is to ensure the chippings are properly embedded and stick into the binder permanently. The continued action of the traffic also helps to embed the chippings as well.
To make sure all the binder is covered with chippings, we lay enough onto the road to ensure a full covering, and to make certain there are no gaps. There will be some loose chippings left, which is quite normal, and consequently we erect 20mph speed limit signs to slow vehicles down as they pass over the new surface. These signs will be on site until the road has settled down and all programmed sweeps have been carried out.
Generally, after 14 days of the completion of the surfacing the road markings will be reinstated.