3.6 Resurfacing Summary

The separate resurfacing contracts are still tendered very traditionally and almost all these contracts are low bid, with very strict technical specifications and details. During the course of this study no country has developed fully performance based specifications for resurfacing contracts. These are still under development and many clients are not able to establish a true performance based specification. In Frost (1997) the development of true performance specifications is a slow, tedious, and frustrating process and will take substantial time and effort to change this traditional mentality. It appears that the additional risks to the resurfacing contractors are probably too much to manage and still favors a traditional approach.

In Finland and in most Nordic countries resurfacing contracts have a shorter window of opportunity to resurface the roads before the next cold and winter weather approaches. Most of the asphalt is recycled and usually hot mixed ("recycling train") and it is easier to have a corridor approach to resurfacing. Also transporting all the equipment across different regions is not cost effective or efficient. In practicality it would also be difficult to resurface all the roads desired in the road network during the short mild/summer season and it would significantly affect the congestion to the traveling public, freight, and commercial transport.

Table 14 highlights some of the main issues in resurfacing contracts and many details are not mentioned as resurfacing is a case by case issue, and technical details are numerous. The main summary from this table is that just about all resurfacing contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder (New Zealand is the exception), most countries recycle or reuse the asphalt over as much as possible (except contaminated or differing types), and the normal warranty is between 1-3 years, with the exception on Ontario Canada, which has a few pilot test case for 7 years. New Zealand is the only country that has the option to use either lowest price or a weighted average of about 70% price and 30% other factors. It was sort of a surprise to learn that the most countries do not have extended warranties or that they are not cost effective, but one can understand that the risks are so great that it is difficult for the asphalt companies to manage traffic and external risks. In order to increase the durability and quality it is a matter of costs, determining the right solutions for that road, the road structure of good quality, finding local quality materials, proper equipment/workmanship, and performance at nominal weather conditions. There are other variables too and achieving higher quality is one issue, while the other risks may even be more extensive.

Table 14 Resurfacing Contract Summary

Note: PSMC refers to Performance Specified Maintenance Contracts