More than 120 kilometres of national roads across Iceland will be improved following an additional funding allocation granted to the Icelandic Road Administration (Vegagerðin) this year.
Vegagerðin received an additional ISK 3 billion this summer, primarily used for road repairs, reconstruction and resurfacing.
“The moment the funding arrived, everything got moving,” said Stefán Þór Pétursson, head of the supervision division in Vegagerðin’s northern region.
The allocation came late, but projects were already prepared for tender and contractors were ready. Work began immediately, and we expect to complete all projects in September.
The greatest maintenance need was in Vegagerðin’s western region, where nearly 54 kilometres are being repaired. In North Iceland it is just under 28 kilometres, 29 kilometres in South Iceland, and more than 14 kilometres in East Iceland.
Contractors are working widely across the country: repairing worn surfaces, reinforcing roads, renewing load-bearing layers and resurfacing with asphalt.
A good example is the nearly four-kilometre stretch at Bakkaselsbrekka in Öxnadalur, a notoriously maintenance-heavy section that has now been paved.
This will mean we won’t need to consider overlaying this section again for hopefully the next ten years.
By completing these projects now, there should be more scope in the coming years to focus on preventive work.
That way we can take on more projects of this kind and longer stretches, instead of constantly firefighting.
Source: Ruv.is
