Council / SSEN ordered to replace ‘defective reinstatements’ of concrete on main road
SHETLAND Islands Council (SIC) has ordered SSEN to replace concreted sections of the A970 main road with bitmac following cabling work in recent months.
The council said it had given SSEN notices of “defective reinstatements” of four sections of the road.
These are between Sand Water and Petta Water on the Lang Kames section, which were reinstated with concrete earlier this year.
Concrete was used because the asphalt batching plant at the Scord Quarry was shut at the time for essential planned maintenance.
The SIC reinforced that SSEN will bear the full cost for the reinstatement works.
SSEN’s contractors are now replacing concrete in these four sections of road with bitmac, with this work due to be completed later this week.
It is also intended that other sections of the A970 reinstated with concrete surfaces will also be replaced with bitmac before the end of November, the SIC added.
It said that works underway on the A968 Voe to Firth road – and A970 Wadbister to Voe road – as part of SSEN’s North Mainland reinforcement project are being monitored by road inspectors.
This is “to ensure that they comply with relevant roads legislation and the national code of practice for roads reinstatement”, the council said.
“The current reinstatements on the A970 road, including the asphalt areas, are temporary and the top 50mm of the road surface will be replaced with a machine-laid layer across the full lane width in due course,” it said in a statement.
“The code of practice specifies that this should ideally be done within a six-month period.
“Given the time of year and the need for suitable weather conditions to lay bitmac, the final reinstatements are likely to be programmed in the spring time at the earliest.”
The SIC added that SSEN had a “statutory right” to install the cables in the public road.
It comes after repeated criticism of the state of the road, particularly in sections where concrete has been used.
Natasha Dean, writing to Shetland News last week, said the concrete was starting to “sink and crack” in sections.
She asked: “Has there been any inspections for quality of workmanship or safety on this stretch of road at all?
“Does there really need to be an accident or fatality before something is rectified with the appalling road surface we are having to endure?”
The council added that it was the roads service’s role “to co-ordinate works in order to minimise disruption and to ensure that the reinstatement of the carriageway is as specified by the code of practice.”
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