Dear Editor,
Please permit me to draw the attention of the authorities through your valued newspapers to a roadway accident at a recently rehabilitated/constructed section of the road at Providence, EBD on Sunday, 7th August, 2016 at approximately 9 am.
At the aforementioned time, a minibus destined for Timehri international airport was transporting eleven Immigration Officers to begin their 10 am shift.
As the vehicle approached the Providence area which is a very active or high traffic volume highway, it went through an un-manned, recently rehabilitated/constructed section of the road with about 200 feet of freshly laid bitumen which had no “posted warning” such as a “potential hazard advisory” sign visible to the general public.
Freshly laid bitumen on about 200 feet of polished, compacted, smooth road surface is basically oil derived from petroleum distillation, and when mixed with the recent rainfall created a slippery, oily film which created a dangerous driving condition.
Reports revealed that the minibus while travelling at about 80km/h, immediately and most horrific to the occupants of the vehicle, lost traction and was elevated on one side, with only two wheels on contact with the slippery road moving at a 45 degree angle, as is often seen in spy/fast car movies.
The minibus travelled on two wheels for the entire 200 feet of the road while the occupants were terrified for their lives before it came to rest on all four wheels, and finally stopped. The Immigration Officers were taken to the hospital for medical attention to injuries as a result of the trauma.
New bitumen laid on a road surface requires time to cool, which is known as “Bitumen curing(drying) time”, which depends upon the blacktop thickness, weather, etc, but usually 3 days in warm weather like Guyana, before you allow traffic on it. The curing time directly involves the oils or volatile compounds naturally present in bitumen.
Bitumen that is freshly laid on the road surface is black in colour.
As the new bitumen ages, it slowly turns from a black colour to more of a grey colour by loss of its oils due to oxidation from the sun (UV rays). This oxidation is actually a good thing as new bitumen has too much oil in it when first placed on the road.
Editor, given that environmental factors such as recent rainfall, humidity, etc, had changed the estimated bitumen curing time, the timely erection of a “Reduce Speed Now, Slippery Roadway ahead” sign on that section of the roadway for traffic approaching from both directions was warranted to alert the general public to changes in roadway conditions that require greater caution.
Further, it is a shared responsibility between the contractor and his road crew that undertook the road project, and the traffic regulation patrol body responsible for enforcing road safety in the Providence area to ensure that the finished road works do not present an unknown hazard before it is kept open to the general public.
Road slipperiness due to the cumulative effects of oil and water can be measured either in terms of the friction between a freely-spinning wheel and the ground, or the braking distance of a braking vehicle, and is related to the coefficient of friction between the tyre and the road surface.
Public works agencies in advanced democracies such as in Britain, Canada, etc spend a sizeable portion of their budget measuring and reducing road slipperiness, seasonally. Even a small increase in slipperiness of a section of a road can increase the accident rate of that section of road tenfold, and result in a potential lawsuit of negligence for the responsible party.
Currently, there are frequent road rehabilitation and construction projects occurring or planned across Guyana, which I think we can all agree are necessary for Guyana’s development, however let us ensure that it is done in safe manner without putting the general public at risk.
Yours faithfully,
Clint Thornton,
Environmental Chemist
