Pavement Preservation
Unlike many other provinces,
the Province of Nova Scotia is
responsible for maintaining the
majority of all public roads in the
province (90 per cent)--23,000
kilometres. The cost per kilometre
is over $300,000 to repave, $500,000
to $750,000 or more to upgrade
a trunk highway, and $3 million
to twin a highway. While severely
damaged roads will continue to be
addressed, a portion of our highway
improvement budget will be set
aside to help improve paved roads
before they become too damaged
and need more costly repairs. The
approach is ensuring that funding is
used more efficiently and effectively.
It is more sustainable in the long
term.
Pavement Preservation is cost
effective. Spending one dollar on
pavement preservation before
a paved road is 15 years old can
eliminate or delay having to spend
6 to 14 dollars on rehabilitation or
reconstruction when the pavement
surface has failed.
Preservation techniques can
extend the life of asphalt, improve
smoothness, reduce potholes and
decrease rutting and cracking.
Roads stay smoother and safer at a
much lower cost than by allowing
them to deteriorate to the point of
needing full reconstruction.