It will soon be Christmas, the season of goodwill to all men (and women). So may I send goodwill greetings to all of you out there actively involved in maintaining the highway networks of the world, but with a little extra emphasis to those of you in the UK, where this website is based.
Perhaps with a little more consideration to those who will be working to keep the roads ice free over this period should the weather provide what is fondly called a traditional Christmas, (a foot of snow).    
This sector of the highways maintenance work force may or may not be called upon, so may or may not enjoy a family Christmas. 
But another sector of the industry will definitely will be working over Christmas, and could well be away from home for most of it. This group of workers are the asphalt and quarry plant fabricators and fitters, and while the quarrying industry generally has a two week shut down, because the construction industry tends to shut down over Christmas, these guys will be working flat out to replace and refurbish very heavy plant at the worst time of the year so that as little production as possible is lost.
There are a lot of unsung heroes in this industry, who are taken for granted, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.  

A Story
Many years ago, thirteen to be precise, the materials laboratory I worked in was closed down. 
I became part of a general highways maintenance section in a team headed by a team leader with the title of Quality Manager, this position replacing the post of Soils and Materials Engineer which was deemed unable to be filled because of the lack of suitable applicants.
I am now talking about the early 1990's when quality assurance (QA) was making a much trumpeted entry in to "Highways" departments throughout the UK, with the promise that all was going to be wonderful, as soon as we had created all the procedures and paperwork that was going to ensure all work, even that carried out on site, would be performed correctly. 
At that time I can recall attending a QA seminar where a training film was shown about a fictitious company that manufactured one metre rulers. Unfortunately there had been a hiccup in the design and the rulers that were produced were only ninety nine centimetres in length and without a QA procedure the error had not been detected and prevented.
(Perhaps some of you recall seeing this same training film.)
In the training film the decision of the company directors was not to introduce QA to produce correct length one metre rulers but to set up a "promotions unit" to point out to customers that the product was only one percent out of tolerance and therefore was an acceptable product. 
Now this film was obviously "silly" (and I seem to recall one of the Monty Python gang was the narrator) to keep the audience awake and to prove a point, the need for quality, by its shear silliness.
It is therefore unfortunate that I perceive certain similarities with this training film and the current situation of continued promotion of some of the products that have been introduced over recent years for road pavement maintenance.

Incidentally the post of Quality Manager lasted about two years before it too disappeared.

Snippets from the "Press"
I have indicated in past newsletters that I try and read as many "Engineering" publications that I come across, as a source of information as to what is happening in the industry.
Sometimes I am disappointed at the lack of debate that is taking place, in these publications, relating to issues that are being discussed between practicing engineers and technicians.
However I keep reading them for the small items, almost "throw away" that appear and which I believe have considerable significance. 
One such item was "Hauliers fail to register" in the "Surveyor" of the 20/11/2003 which reports that haulage companies are not registering to use the new M6 Toll Motorway because they regard the £9:00 toll as too expensive. It is suggested in the report that the high price is to dissuade heavy goods vehicles from using the new road and hence reducing maintenance costs, but this is denied by the private operator.
I seem to recall reading somewhere that some sections of this motorway had a road pavement design that incorporated a reduced thickness of high modulus base and binder course, so discouraging all those damaging "super singles" from passing over it would be a sensible concept if a body were looking to reduce maintenance costs.

A second extremely brief report titled "Surfacing probe" is to be found in the "news update" section of the magazine "HIGHWAYS". This is quite a useful magazine and does tend to concentrate more on the practical aspects of the industry and less on the politics.
"HIGHWAYS" is available by subscription, but even better it is available free if you log on to their website, but you do have to fill out their quite comprehensive questionnaire.
The brief entry "Surfacing probe" indicates that "the Department for Transport is to research whether new noise-reducing thin surfacing methods are leading to cracks and potholes in roads", it goes on to say that "the DfT is to undertake an eighteen month study into the materials".
I have not seen or heard of this research being mentioned anywhere else, but it appears there is  now an acknowledged need for this research, which does not come as much of a surprise to some of us.

And finally you must read the letter with the heading "What's in a name?" on the  "Letters to the Editor" page in last weeks (20/11/2003) Surveyor.
Although I tend to agree with the sentiments of the writer I think it a little "startling" if you study it in detail.
I seem to recall a previous article or letter in "Surveyor" that suggested it was about time the CSS had a proper name that better reflected the nature of the work that they are involved in, and who they now represent. I do not think they meant for it to be called the County Surveyors Society.
The County Surveyors Society was a society of County Surveyors who were responsible for the construction and maintenance of the highway networks in the counties throughout the UK, and came under the jurisdiction and were responsible to the local authority.
In my opinion the CSS/County Surveyors Society is a different body entirely. Many senior members of the body do not have engineering backgrounds, and those that do seem to be drawn from the ranks of the large engineering consultancies. The CSS/County Surveyors Society seem to have close ties to the Highways Agency and hence central government, and to the commercial side of our industry with their support of the Highway Authority Product Approval Scheme (HAPAS), and the various Highways Agency Sector Scheme Approvals.
So I think it is about time the CSS/County Surveyors Society came up with a name that informs people who/what they truly represent and set about achieving a reputation of their own on the merits of their performance. I think there is something a little ungentlemanly about bathing in the good reputation of those who went before them.
And, in reality, should we not call closure on the name County Surveyors Society when not one County Surveyor remains.

Important Surface Dressing Update
I am a little disappointed this note of caution has not appeared elsewhere from those who claim to represent the industry.
I will be brief and point you in the right direction and leave you to decide whether it will affect you or not.
If you are thinking of purchasing surface dressing chippings early in the new year I would urge you to look at the "recommended" new chipping sizes and their specification compared to the BS 63 specification sizes and gradings they replace.
I hope your Materials Engineer / Engineer responsible for surface dressing is already aware of the possible problems and has advised a course of action.
The industry is aware of potential problems and meetings of the parties involved are to take place, but this may not affect early deliveries of chippings, and the "slow" period after Christmas is often the time when chippings are delivered to the stockpiles of highway authorities and contractors.    
This is an item I did not really want to present but I feel I have fellow engineers and technicians out there, who I have never met, who without the backup of  "Materials" guidance could find themselves in difficult situations not of their own making.
Perhaps the mainstream highways maintenance press could highlight this problem after investigating my concerns. Telling everybody everything will be the same when the specification allows things to be different is not an appropriate course of action in my opinion.
Background on this item can be obtained from the May 2003 newsletter.

Motto of the Month

"What happened today, happened yesterday, and will happen again tomorrow"