The Downlands Estate road maintenance programme for 2025 consists of a large number of relatively small repairs including kerb maintenance, gulley repairs and patching. These maintenance activities are a fundamental part of our Preventive, Corrective, and Replacement measures and are based on advice received from Hailsham Roadways, our appointed contractors, who are experts in the field.
Why is kerb maintenance so important? The kerbs form an integral part of the combined drainage systems, seamlessly incorporating gutters and drainage outlets, which together form a channel for surface water drainage. This is crucial as it helps prevent water ingress under the tarmac and subsequent frost damage; water ingress along the edges of the road is a major cause of tarmac disintegration. Maintenance of the kerbing is therefore a positive investment in the road network as it helps avoid otherwise earlier costly repairs and patching of the road surfaces.
During the current exercise, some kerbstones which were originally identified as requiring realignment rather than replacement, have proved to be in too poor a condition and have crumbled whilst attempting to realign. These have required replacement.
Where necessary, the reinstatement gangs will attend to disturbed verges etc after the current phase of works is completed (end May/early June).