[olduser]

Found on the BBC news website;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9d0p2ex8pqo

Why on earth are they complaining to the media, just end the contract, in fact it should have been terminated within the first few days by the look of it.

The problem is with outsourcing, when bending the figures in favour, the cost of supervision/inspection is overlooked (if it was included the outsourcing would probably not be viable)

It takes a lot of knowhow to lay a good road surface, and a lot of knowhow to do patch repairs, that was why local authorities retained an experienced teams to do this work, between laying or repairing these men would do other council work
New members to the team would be taught by the others, and above all they had pride in their work, and they would have to clean up the mess if they got it wrong.

I wonder if councils still employ Civil Engineers, and if so why because they obviously do not listen to any advise given?

[Rolebama]

Reminds me of the clowns our Borough used to resurface some of our local commuter routes. Within days of completion the road surfaces cracked and the repair was accepted when they just filled in the cracks with tar. Great for riding a motorcycle on in the rain.

[Drivingforfun]

I think you're right about cost and figure bending

A contract can be terminated if either party breaches it, surely?

Which means, assuming they're correct in saying they have to wait for it to end, M Corp hasn't breached the contract

Which means they employed them knowing they were allowed to provide this minimal service ... because it was cheap

[olduser]

Many contracts have a penalty clause to discourage early termination but the problem is, particularly with government, and local government it is assumed that contactors will do whatever they are contracted to do. But a private organisation must do the minimum it can get away with to maximise profits, the counter to that is to inspect the work but if the cost of inspection is added to the contract price, the contract would not be affordable.

To repair a pothole needs knowledge of building roads, the aim should be to make the repair part of the road.
Dumping tarmac into a pothole just temporarily fills the hole, and will not keep water out of the underlying structure nor stop the traffic from breaking the repaired surface up again.

[Rolebama]

We have been building roads, supposedly suitable for traffic, for quite a few years now, and still can't get it right. It's not rocket science, just a matter of trying to do it on the cheap, and using people who don't know what they are doing. Our Borough supposedly lost £76,000,000 when that Icelandic bank went under, yet we had pothjoles galore all over the Borough because 'there was no more money in the budget'.

[NMNeil]

@Rolebama Every time a town or city has a budget shortfall the first cash cow they look to milk is the motorist.
Happens all over the world.

[Rolebama]

@NMNeil We were all happy when the Borough made our area Residents Parking. It had got to the stage that, because of visitors to the local tourist attraction, if you went out at the weekend, you might (and I have), be parking half a mile from the house. We now have Parking Wardens, three more common than not, putting tickets for non-residents parking, parking on footpath, parking too close to junctions, blocking dropped kerbs at wheelchair crossings and parking with the front or rear overhanging the footpath. (Those are what I know of.) So, yes, I believe the Residents Parking was put in place because the bean-counters projected the returns.

[NMNeil]

@Rolebama Maybe, but it does show the entitled mentality of a lot of car drivers when it comes to parking.
They recently banned parking on the pavement in Scotland and someone came up with "If I park in the road it impedes emergency vehicles so I HAVE to park on the pavement."
Park in the road and he impedes emergency vehicles, park on the pavement and he impedes pedestrians. Either way he's inconveniencing someone, but in his mind parking his car takes priority over everyone else.