A Ph.D. candidate at Concordia University believes he has a solution for the myriad roadwork woes in Montreal — better coordination.
Soliman Abu-Samra and three of his colleagues have completed a study — published recently in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management — which concludes that streamlining road maintenance would result in big savings, and fewer orange cones.
"This study is mainly about how to coordinate the maintenace of the whole corridor, not only the road," Abu-Samra says, "because, as you know, the road has the water, sewer, electricity networks underneath, so what we're talking about it dealing with the whole thing altogether."
All too often, he says, a roadway will get done, only to have a problem with a water main or an electric line some time later, which would require a roadway to be torn up a second time — meaning more money, more manpower, and more traffic headaches.
Abu-Samra suggests a more detailed listing of what's underneath roads, and the status of things like water and sewer mains, should be created, so that when a road is torn up for repairs, proper maintenance can be on those other things at the same time.
Meanwhile, Abu-Samra suggests the city of Montreal, for instance, could save some time and money by doing a better job of filling potholes. Abu-Samra says the city is using a "throw-and-go" approach to pothole filling.
"There's a vehicle that throws asphalt on the pothole, and that's it," he says. "The best way it to put asphalt and then compact it in order to guarantee that this pothole is totally closed. What they do is throw it, and leave the cars to compact it, so, this doesn't solve the problem, it's just a painkiller for a couple of months. It's a loop that will never end."
Abu-Samra says he and his colleagues have met with officials at the city of Montreal about better coordination of roadwork, although for the moment, there's no formal agreement to work together.