Rain threatens Iqaluit’s new road surfaces

JOHN THOMPSON

Recent rainy weather in Iqaluit could spell trouble for the paving project now underway.

Three kilometres of roads are being coated using a technique called chip-sealing. It involves laying down a thin layer of asphalt and water followed by a layer of gravel, which is then rolled flat.

It costs about half as much as conventional paving. But for chip-sealing to work best, the weather needs to stay cool and dry.

Heavy rain over the last week could prevent the mixture from properly setting, and shorten the life of the newly paved roads.

The city’s engineer, Jeff Baker, says that residents shouldn’t expect chip-sealed roads to stand up as long as asphalt.

And even with crumbling chip-seal, residents will still be driving on a smoother surface than gravel, with less dust kicking up in the air during the summer, Baker said.

Last summer, the city tried chip-sealing for the first time, using equipment from the Kativik Regional Government and supervision from employees in the Yukon familiar with the technology.

Last year’s project involved paving a stretch of Apex Road. Most of the paving is still intact, although potholes have begun to form along the sides in stretches where the chip-seal has begun to crumble.

The city’s engineer, Jeff Baker, said “the highest contributing factor” to the chip-seal breaking up is how cool and dry the surface is when the mixture is applied.

In other words, rain today means more potholes to come.

This year the city contracted Baffin Building Systems to do the paving, with engineering work by Trow Consulting.

Baker said one benefit of hiring contractors to do the work this year is the contract includes a one-year warrantee for deficiencies, such as potholes and washboarding.

So if the roads do fall apart, BBS could find themselves patching potholes to meet their end of the deal.

The work costs $666,000, with some funding provided by the Government of Nunavut.

The paving began at the end of August and should continue for the next week, Baker said.

One new stretch will start where work last year ended on Apex Road, paving 750 metres further, to Apex Bridge.

Work has also begun on paving Bypass Road, better known as “Washboard Hill,” which should result in a paved stretch more than two kilometres long between Apex Road and the Ring Road.

There are several reasons why the contractors didn’t begin paving the city streets sooner, said Baker.

He says the city was reluctant to release its meagre gravel supplies earlier in the summer, when it was unclear what new location would replace the city’s nearly-exhausted gravel source.

Now that a spat between different levels of government has ended, the city is moving ahead with plans to build a road to a new gravel source.

The temperature was another obstacle, Baker said. He says that chip-sealing ideally is done when the temperature is no warmer than 8C.

“Right now we’re hovering right around that limit,” Baker said of the temperature on Wednesday last week. “And the weather is currently not helping.”