Like many other contractors, Les Entreprises Bourget is outraged by the refusal of the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable (MTMD) to use the surface treatment technique to combat the asset maintenance deficit (AMD) of Quebec's road network

JOLIETTE, QC, July 17, 2024 /CNW/ - Contrary to the municipal world, which uses surface treatment as an effective technique that is less costly than conventional asphalt, Entreprises Bourget, a major player in road maintenance for over 60 years, describes the position of the Ministère des Transports du Québec as erratic, pointing to the recent report by the Vérificateur général du Québec (VGQ), which notes that the deterioration of the road network's pavements is increasing; MTMD's failure to assess the investments needed to bring the asset maintenance deficit under control.

Thanks to this technique, up to 7 kilometers of road can be built per day without obstructing traffic. (CNW Group/Les Entreprises Bourget Inc.)

This shortcoming is all the more problematic, in the company's view, given the context of climate change, which is likely to increase the scale of the investments required to control this deficit, according to the same report. Given that 50% of Quebec's road network is in poor condition, surface treatment can be a pragmatic solution, as it restores worn or uncoated pavements to a surface whose service life can be extended by several years, while protecting the integrity of the pavement itself.

"Since 80% of Quebec's road network is made up of low-volume roads, surface treatment is the ideal solution for uncoated pavements, and the optimum alternative for extending the life of damaged pavements by at least 4 to 7 years, depending on the case," says company president Luc Delangis. He pointed out that it is generally more costly for the government to intervene in the aftermath of a disaster than to invest in prevention, recalling the facts reported by the VGQ, which states that every dollar invested in adaptation avoids an average of between $13 and $15 in direct damage to roads resulting from disasters, not counting the indirect damage to the economy.

Among the collateral damage resulting from poor road conditions, automobile maintenance costs for Quebec drivers are 2 times higher. A recent study by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) puts these costs at $258 per year, compared with $126 for Canadian motorists.

The 50% of roads in poor condition is enough to justify a drastic change of course to at least delay the growth of the asset maintenance deficit (AMD), especially since the MTMD's Independent Expert Panel considers that "a perfect storm seems to be brewing on the horizon with regard to the state of the road network: the road network's asset maintenance budgets were already chronically insufficient to halt the growth of the AMD". Given the current context, more than 20,000 km of the 32,000 km of roads under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport could benefit from this type of intervention, regardless of the formula chosen. "At 60% less costly than conventional asphalt, surface treatment would be an inexpensive solution paid for to delay the deterioration of the road network," continued Mr. Delangis, pointing out that high-performance surface treatments are also available, consisting of premium-quality aggregate and polymer emulsion designed to last even longer under higher traffic loads.

There is therefore no justification for MTMD's incomprehensible stubbornness in not using this technique which, in addition to its obvious economic virtues, offers advantages in terms of reduced energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, since it is cold mix, quick and easy to apply, and minimizes the impact on traffic during the works.

For the company, there's still time for the Ministère des Transports du Québec to react quickly, inviting it to emulate the governments of Ontario, New Brunswick and the New England states, which have successfully invested tens of millions of dollars in this type of surfacing year after year, saving five times as much in the end, with a blitz of urgent work across Quebec that would help extend the life of our national roads.

SOURCE Les Entreprises Bourget Inc.

Source : Les Entreprises Bourget inc., Luc Delangis - President; Sonia Maltais - Sales and Marketing Manager; Info : Alexandre Dumas, Vice-President - Corporate Communications, NATIONAL Public Relations, 514 898-4636 (cell), [email protected]