Marlborough District Council Roading Assets - Activity Management Plan 2015 - 2018 SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.8.5.4 Recycled Glass in pavements There is a growing knowledge base in relation to the use of crushed glass in pavements. Council has established, and is subsidising, a crushed glass recycling programme with a local contractor. This material is now being utilised in local granular pavements. This is an area where current practices have room for improvement. 1.8.5.5 Vegetation control – mowing / slashing Current vegetation control techniques predominantly involve a mower slashing or cutting back grass and any road side vegetation. This can often lead to a visually unappealing result, in particular with the trimming of roadside vegetation. In some areas, e.g. tourist routes, vegetation control is more visible and in these areas more considered vegetation control measures could be undertaken to ensure a more aesthetic result. This is an area where current practices are able to be improved upon. 1.8.5.6 Use of Emulsions vs. Cutback Bitumen Emulsion Binders now forms part of the Reseal Underpinned quantities in both highway maintenance contracts, currently emulsion binders represents around 15% of the overall underpinned quantity with the remainder being traditional cutbacks bitumen. Traditionally emulsion binders have been around 33% more expensive than bitumen binders, but over recent years the price difference as become comparable. 1.8.5.7 Use of Water based paints vs. spirit based paints The use of certain types of paints can lead to adverse effects on the environment. The use of spirit based paints can lead to adverse effects at the time of stripping the paint, blasting the surface, and the cleaning of the equipment used to apply the paint. The use of water based paints however reduces the scale of the effect arising from their use. The current practice is the use of water based paints and is an area where sustainability and the environment are well considered. 1.8.5.8 Protecting key vegetation / trees There are a number of large trees around the Marlborough region. Some of these are on legal road. There are also a number of heritage and thereby protected trees, with some of these also being located on or near legal road. Ensuring that any road widening or maintenance works are carried out in a manner that recognises the regional or national significance of such trees or vegetation is not an area currently undertaken well. Better integration with the identification of such trees and vegetation, and the consideration of alternative options to address these when considering road works will address this aspect however. 1.8.5.9 Planning / Managing Gravel extraction There are standards in the Council Resource Management Plans for roading works, and this includes gravel extraction. There is also control mechanisms imposed through resource consent conditions for gravel extraction. Resource consents for gravel are held by the contractors who maintain responsibility for meeting the consent requirements. There is currently an abundant source of gravel in the largest river catchments of the region, however the smaller catchments do not have the same supplies. Construction and maintenance costs will rise as cartage distances increase from new areas of the rivers where degradation of the river is not occurring. Irrespective of the volume available, management of the abstraction rate is required to ensure the continued availability of gravel for the future. 1.8.5.10 Optimising footprint for earthworks Optimising the footprint for earthworks will generally minimise the visual intrusion that the road formation in particular can have. Current practice is that earthworks are carried out to form the required road, and then slopes vegetated afterwards. Limited regard is had to alternative routes or methods specifically with the consideration of reducing earthworks, with such alternatives predominantly arising through design speed changes or the ability or otherwise to purchase the required land. While revegetation can alter a visual appearance from a large earthworks footprint, it often remains out of character with the surrounding vegetation and is thereby still apparent as arising from earthworks or other man-made means. 30 September 2014 Page 154 of Section 1