Wicklow County Council-WTF

Agent Smyth

Started to cycle to Laragh at the beginning of June and was pleasantly surprised to see they had resurfaced some of the road from Roundwood to Annamoe with lovely smooth tarmac.
Went down that way today to find they have resurfaced half the road from Annamoe to Laragh with the cheap tar and stones.
I am not saying its not rideable but it brings back memories of the Sallygap to Roundwood job they did a couple of years ago.

Why cant they use the one type of road surface???

Raam

Agent Smyth wrote: »

Started to cycle to Laragh at the beginning of June and was pleasantly surprised to see they had resurfaced some of the road from Roundwood to Annamoe with lovely smooth tarmac.
Went down that way today to find they have resurfaced half the road from Annamoe to Laragh with the cheap tar and stones.
I am not saying its not rideable but it brings back memories of the Sallygap to Roundwood job they did a couple of years ago.

Why cant they use the one type of road surface???

I don't know.

Chips Lovell

Agent Smyth wrote: »

Why cant they use the one type of road surface???

Costs

Chipsealing is cheaper than resurfacing an asphalt concrete or a Portland cement concrete pavement, but not as long-lasting.

daragh_

Agent Smyth wrote: »

Started to cycle to Laragh at the beginning of June and was pleasantly surprised to see they had resurfaced some of the road from Roundwood to Annamoe with lovely smooth tarmac.
Went down that way today to find they have resurfaced half the road from Annamoe to Laragh with the cheap tar and stones.
I am not saying its not rideable but it brings back memories of the Sallygap to Roundwood job they did a couple of years ago.

Why cant they use the one type of road surface???

It's a temp surface AFAIK. It's going to be lovely and smooth for the Laragh Classic.

lissard

Can't come soon enough, the descent into Laragh is pretty atrocious right now.

daragh_

Was there on Saturday. Very sketchy indeed.

dragratchet

was coming back from laragh on sat and chose to avoid it to protect my bike... they did the same up in glencullen at the end of the summer last year.. it beds in fairly quick and its perfectly fine then.

Teachmor

What sort of wimps are you?
Races were held around the lap Roundwood-Laragh-Sally Gap-Luggala and lads finished with their chainstays worn by the chippings stuck to the side of their tyres by the melting tar.

Very sketchy my arse

fat bloke

Teachmor wrote: »

What sort of wimps are you?
Races were held around the lap Roundwood-Laragh-Sally Gap-Luggala and lads finished with their chainstays worn by the chippings stuck to the side of their tyres by the melting tar.

Very sketchy my arse

I'd say your ar$e was pretty sketchy after that alright

smacl

Agent Smyth wrote: »

Went down that way today to find they have resurfaced half the road from Annamoe to Laragh with the cheap tar and stones

Over the sally gap to Laragh with you instead so

Cycled on this road a few weeks ago. Nearly had an off when my front wheel sunk into the loose chippings on the side of the road.

Agent Smyth

Was down there yesterday and am glad to report 90% of the loose chippings are gone.
But I still don't understand why WCC have an inconsistent road surface policy,
Roundwood to Annamoe new smooth tarmacadam, Laragh to Glendalough new smooth tarmacadam,
Annamoe to Laragh rough chipsealing.
daragh said earlier that he thinks its a temporary fix but its a temporary fix on top of the temporary fix done a few years ago.
Is the cost of tarmacadam to expensive compared to chipsealing ??

CramCycle

Agent Smyth wrote: »

Is the cost of tarmacadam to expensive compared to chipsealing ??

Its the fact they often put down tarmacadam and then cover it over with chipsealing that confuses me greatly, wicklow CC are not the only ones, Longford CC have the same policy of stupidity. This said, I am not a road engineer, and maybe there is a good reason for this behaviour.

loyatemu

Agent Smyth wrote: »

Is the cost of tarmacadam to expensive compared to chipsealing ??

Yes.

Topdressing is a mid-life refurbishment for roads that aren't due to get a full resurface. I assume it's done on some sort of annual schedule which is why roads that are seemingly in good nick get done anyway. Pros: Cheap, hard-wearing; Cons: Noisy, hard on tyres, a bugger to cycle on.

Tenzor07

Was there a couple of times last week, 'tis grand on the Mountain bike!