Asphalt in the west but not in the east

It has been a challenging winter in the north, and it has also affected the asphalt on the national roads in Finnmark. Several periods of initial telecommunications solution, which in turn have switched to frost, have led to more damage to the road deck than normal.

The annual asphalt budgets set a framework for how much asphalt should be laid each season. What is the reason why this year there will be new asphalt on national roads in western Finnmark, but not in East Finnmark?

Every year we measure in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s tire state on all national roads. We do this using laser scanners mounted on cars that we use when inspecting the road network. We get accurate data on tracks and evenness in the tip tire, and see how the condition develops.

We have been making annual measurements since 1990. We therefore have a very good overview of the tire condition on the road network. The measurements are the basis for our priorities, that is, which roads will receive asphalt this year and the next few years.

We do not have enough funds to pave all the roads that should have had a new cover. In order to get the most asphalt for the money, we choose to pave longer stretches and collect the stretches geographically. We prioritize stretches that are tracked and have poor standards.

When we prioritize between roads, traffic volumes, how much heavy traffic there are on the road, and traffic safety.

It is an advantage, and gives the best results, where we can pav the entire stretches instead of patching holes. Every year, however, we do both over the entire road network, so that accessibility and traffic safety will be as good as possible.

In addition, we must continuously repair acute injuries caused by events in nature or events in traffic. We are also in dialogue with Finnmark county council to see how we can take advantage of each other across who owns the road.

We would like to reassfalted several meters of national and European roads in Finnmark. This season there are stretches of road in western and mid-Finnmark that need it most.

Per Kåre Olsen

Project manager

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration