Recent road fatalities involving motorcyclists riding into potholes have again brought to the forefront the pressing need to address the long-standing issue that has needlessly claimed lives.
Statistics highlight the increasing trend. A paper published in 2017 revealed that from 2000 to 2011, a total of 840 people died in road accidents resulting from pothole-related mishaps, with the number of deaths climbing to almost 100 alone in 2011.
The total represented 11.2% of the 7,486 traffic accident deaths that were attributed to road defects during the period, and placed potholes as the third major cause of fatalities within the category.
While total deaths due to accidents caused by road defects account for just 11.25% of the more than 65,000 road traffic deaths recorded during the 12-year period, they still represent a significant loss of life, and in the case of potholes, likely preventable if action to correct them was taken quickly. And properly, as will be noted later.
The thing is, we doubt most people expect pristine surfaces across the entire paved road network in the country, but perhaps more can be done to ensure that less mishaps occur with as much elimination of potential road hazards as possible. We won’t even bring in too low or high-set manhole covers as a result of resurfacing work, which is a hazard by itself and another cause of fatalities (273 deaths from 2000 to 2011).
Potholes usually result from the underlying soil being softened by excess water, with traffic load causing the road surface to crack or sink. Improper road resurfacing following utility work can also lead to road failure. Continued exposure to water from rainfall and poor drainage can also cause the asphalt to weaken and rupture, with loading of the pavement from traffic causing small holes and tears to eventually become larger.
Previously collected data has shown that potholes occur more frequently during months where there is extended and heavier rain, specifically the months of April, July, November and December. With the current rainy spell, it’s no surprise to see more potholes and asphalt breakages emerging of late.
That potholes are a common occurrence is inescapable, but it is ensuring that they are corrected, and corrected properly, is the issue that needs to be addressed.
Following the recent public outcry over the matter, the works ministry, through the public works department (JKR), reiterated its promise (first made in 2016) to repair potholes within 24 hours as pledged in its Aku Janji Zero Potholes (“I Promise Zero Potholes”) campaign.
It has said that potholes of diameters less than 200 mm will be filled immediately, with no cutting involved, with permanent repairs carried out within three days. In general, the former is usually fixed via a throw-and-roll method where a cold mix patch is placed into the hole and compacted. Proper pothole repair using hot mix premix compounds take time, as it requires road-cutting using heavy machinery and cleaning beforehand.
The problem is that the expedient fix usually doesn’t last long, sometimes no more than a couple of days, more so in rainy weather, and before you know it, the hole is back. We’re sure that many road users can point to such repeat occurrences coming about regularly.
Sometimes, the issue persists despite continued rectification efforts. Such is the case with Jalan Tengah in KL, where a pothole claimed the life of a 75-year-old motorcyclist a few days ago. According to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), which has jurisdiction of the stretch of road, repair work on the road has been carried out no less than nine times since September, the last being done on December 26.
The council – which said in 2016 the city would be pothole-free by 2017 – said that it constantly monitors and takes action in repairing potholes by conducting patrols and making immediate patches at locations where roads are damaged, but said that “as damage to the road surface happens too often, DBKL has appointed geo-technical consultant Messrs Ikram to study and investigate the cause.”
It added that a total of 11,979 cases of road damage cases, including potholes, were recorded last year, with all eventually repaired. Of these, 7,735 cases were detected through city hall patrols, while 4,244 cases were called in via public complaints. It sounds impressive, but scant consolation after the latest fact.
Road surface damage as a result of environmental factors and amplified by increasing traffic rates will undoubtedly continue, but the point is to ensure that this damage is repaired promptly and in proper fashion, something that doesn’t happen always, unless you are a person of note.
While potholes won’t be completely eradicated, the question is, how should authorities go about addressing it in the best manner possible? Are more resources – and financing – needed to ensure a more prompt response? JKR says the public can utilise up to 11 channels to report complaints regarding the condition of roads, which is plenty, but who ensures that movement is carried out quickly, and is monitoring continued regularly? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter, so share them in the comments section.
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Hahaha potholes lagik… tengkiu gomen 62tahun.
Previous one left potholes unattended as they were confident we will have flying cars real soon and potholes does not affect flying cars, right? Now they have tumbang, mimpi flying car is gone, all their 2 years mata buta on pothole maintenance started to come out and haunt us.
Whatever it is, no minister was injured because of pothole for that 2 years. But the past 9 months, minister injured while delivery rider was killed because of potholes.
Sibuk rebut jawatan oo… ade aq kesah. LOL
Turun padang baru dapat chance nak injured, tak turun padang takde chance nak kena injury. So 2 tahun takde injury apa kesimpulannya.
Kesimpulannya masalah pothole ni dah berdekad. Bukannya 2 tahun je. Jangan nak tunding jari padahal sendiri jadi gov pun tak selesai masalah ni. Takan benda ni pun nak ajar.
So for that 75 year old man, is DBKL taking responsibility for that mans death and compensate his family?
Another culprit is JPJ personnel on the take, which allows overloaded lorries to use the road. Overloaded lorries are probably the main reason why our roads are damaged. Now it is very common to see heavy semi trailers and dump trucks enter into suburban and village roads that cannot take heavy vehicle weight.
Tuler Negara dh merdeka dh msuk tahun 2021 jalan raya masih teruk sekali. Cukai jalan rakyat bayar kualiti jalan raya amat teruk sekali. Pemimpin maner yg perlu dipertanggungjawabkan utk jalan raya nie. Tak boleh pakai langsung, janji dicapati.
Cukai jalan u bayar sebenrnye ciku saje. Dahlah tu nk hrpkan jln 1st world pulak. *facepalm*
Firstly, In the era that there is an app almost for anything and everything, how hard could it be to develope an app which actually works and is user friendly to incorporate all those so called “11 ways to report” under one platform for the public to report potholes accurately and hold the respected authorities responsible?
Secondly as the case for the klang valley there are so many constructions going on at every corner and to me those irresponsible contractors with their lousy lazy patch ups are a major cause for the potholes to occur. So something must be done about that too.
The problem with our authorities is like Tun said “LAZY”.
No matter how big or small the pothole,you cant just fill it instantly with asphalt..”premix”.
You have to do the cutting,then fill the base with quarry material called crusher run,compact sufficiently,apply colpave,then only the asphalt of high grade with calcium,to fill the lobang.
If they have to place barriers for a day to do the job,they have to do it.
You go to Down under,see for yourself how the kwailoh do the patching.No short cuts.
They can janji,and janji a million times..it becomes more shambolic as the problems repeat.
The only thing rakyat can do now ,is to drive at a lower speed especially at night.
If the victims who died are VVIPs or menteris..you can see a big convoy of repair trucks with hot asphalt racing faster than Usain Bolt to go to the accident scene.Just disgusting and outrageous how people tackle potholes.
Do you need ICBM rocket science to fix potholes?
Same thing with resurfacing of the road…They remove the old layer(s) until you can see the road base, then only they apply the new surface. Malaysia simply apply new surface on top of an already riddled/unpatched surface, so within a few months the old pothole reappears. Like you said, it’s not rocket science, just sheer laziness and lack of will. And the fact that a minister feeling sorry for himself will always get more attention from the authorities than one of the rakyat losing their lives.
I was working in the quarry industry for 15 years.I know what short cuts those dudes use to “fix” the pothole.
Common sense will tell you that the base quarry material has already been washed away by rainwater.So if u just throw hot asphalt onto the ‘lobang”,it will not hold for too long once a 10 wheeler lorry passes by.
Those dudes..shambolic..its like going to extract tooth…telling the dentist,no need numbing injection..just pull.So they pull a fast one,the pain is borne by motorists who spin out of control once they hit a sizable pothole.
Wait for people like famous politicians or actors getting hurt or died,then it becomes BERITA TERKINI.
Just have to go deeper, how the pothole patching contract is being outsourced.
layers of fleecing and half bake work being performed get approved even before it started.
This is Bodohland.
How to stop this pothole problems, and thus minimize road accident fatalities?
1st and foremost- Change the mind set.
How to change when the power-to-be has been long practicing “Tidak-Apa”, “Mudah Lupa”, “tak peduli”,”tak kisah”, “buat taktau/tak nampak”, “jangan kasi susah”, “rileks & minum dulu”, etc?
How to Change the mind set.
Malaysia doomed by this bunch of jokers since turun temurun… playing old rhetorics n tricks.
I previously tried to research on how potholes form and only got answers that are relevant to countries which experience significant differences in temperature.
My commute to work last time, there was a stretch of road littered with potholes and with my Kancil, it was hilarious hearing and feeling all the bumps.
As for local city councils can do … not sure.
Enough political will? The 100 dead would be nobodies to those in the halls of power, which is screwing everyone up with thier power play. Maybe if more than one politician fall into potholes, something would be done.
Stop the Alibaba contracts, closed tenders, minimize cut corners. Screw JKR, all the Municipality councils up. Screw JPJ for lack of enforcement for overloaded lorries. Follow the rule of meritocracy.
There are some really stupid people there. Imagine brand new bike lane with manhole grills perfectly aligned for your wheels to fall in.
It is clear that JKR is only good at giving empty promises.They said repairs will be done in 24 hours but didn’t mention how many 24 hours.Complaints were often ignored and even after a few months of waiting, the same potholes will still be there, unrepaired and getting worse.Even local councils who receive complaints from the public and forwarded to JKR are getting fedup with them for not taking any action.
Potholes is usually caused by:
1. Ponding water – deteriorate the strength of mortar.
2. Local settlement, loose soil.
A blanket solution should be applied regardless of the factor causing the potholes.
Options are :
1. Cement grout injection to the soil.
2. Higher grade mortar that is more resistant to ponding water deterioration,
In case future localized settlement still happen.
Ultimately, it can be tested follow JKR standard.
The more spending you have for such potholes, the longer lasting.
But the current situation is simply cover by mortar by non qualified patching standard, no testing is being done to confirm too.
Testing for such small potholes, definitely deems not practical and cost wasting.
A blanket solution of higher strength for soil and mortar is recommended.
Heating is a issue for mortar.
But a mortart under JKR spec, it has been tested, verified prior application.
Dubai is also heaty, but they also used a appropriately engineering designed mortar.
Yes, heat is a criteria for the design, which more heat is causing the mortar to be softer.
Which is good. It promote grip, softer mortar is better for grip.
Hence:
1. Heat resilient is not an issue in JKR approved mortar, laying, soil preparation.
2. Potholes often happened at localized defect, which often due to localized settlement, ponding water.
Once it start to havw localized settle, it start to loose. There is no rebar reinforcement.
Under vehicle load crashing to it, larger potholes is formed.
Preliminary summary –
There is no proper potholes patching is being carried out.
At the PLUS Highway, potholes is properly rectified. No re-occurence within short period.
Just benchmark them,
Don’t do a finishing, low quality patching, pls conduct an engineered approach.
Seek Engineer Consultant advice, monitoring, testing recommendations.
They work with interest to commit Compliance, not cut cost like contractor style.
this open up a rombongan sambil belanjar ke Dubai 2 minggu free to some of these fellas?
See above: “PLUS Highway, potholes is properly rectified…” You can do rombongan sambil belajar to PLUS highway.
I would say corruption is the reason for these potholes. Corruption causes shoddy road works, overloading and bad patch job. Weather and soil can be managed. Thailand, singapore and even indonesia have better roads. JKR n PBT sucks. I would say give all road work duties to LLM. At least highways under them are quite decent.
Indon & Thai have better roads? nope haha. Indon main capital is sinking and every monsoon brings rain throughout the whole city. Their roads becomes muddy shit. Bangkok is no better unless on particular roads for royalty use. Outskirts is pure shit.
if the interest is Quality,
Seek Consultant advice.
Talking to contractor for a good quality solution?
There is conflict of interest already.
Contractor mindset is time, cost, manpower.
Consultant mindset is Quality, Compliance, Ethics.
Goes to show that we always like to build stuffs but sloppy and maintaining them. Contractors cutting corners to make money, authorities never bothered with quality of work and often turn a blind eye for sub-par jobs. When you complain, you’ll get all sorts of lame excuses.
Even worse outside cities because bad roads there will never make the headlines and they are not menteri cycling routes. Kerja cinchai, duit lesap!!!
After few layer of SUB, then how to manage good quality of repair work..
So far due to potholes has cost me 54 tyres and 12 alloy wheels…
You should count your lucky stars. Others lost their lives to those potholes.
Putting flood aside, I have to agree with lilytan that roads in Jakarta are built with asphalt of better quality. The quality used to build most roads in Malaysia is getting from bad to worse. Asphalt pavement can last a long time if proper steps are taken to prepare the asphalt, the space and correctly lay the materials.