Parliament
Almost all potholes formed on roads in January repaired
LTA working to fix remaining ones, after record 2,570 emerged due to downpours
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Toh Ting Wei
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A record number of 2,570 potholes formed on Singapore's roads last month due to heavy rainfall.
This was more than double the number of potholes recorded in a typical month during the wet season, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor, noting that January was an exceptionally wet month.
About 95 per cent of the potholes had been repaired as at Sunday, she told Parliament yesterday, in response to Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) and Mr Melvin Yong (Radin Mas).
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has prioritised "safety-critical" potholes for repair, and is working to repair the remaining ones, she added.
Dr Khor said LTA typically tries to repair potholes within 24 hours, and had tripled its manpower for the task last month.
"Unfortunately, heavy rain hampers pothole-patching works because the road surface needs to be dry in order for patching materials to bond properly," she said.
Road potholes proliferated across the island after heavy rain earlier last month, raising concern among motorists and cyclists.
Due to prolonged rain, a larger amount of water seeps into cracks on road pavements. The continuous movement of vehicles makes the water seep deeper into the cracks, causing them to widen and eventually form potholes.
Dr Khor said LTA frequently inspects more than 9,000 lane-km of roads to check for road defects.
Expressways are inspected weekly, major roads fortnightly and other roads once every eight weeks. It also investigates feedback on road defects from the public.
95%
About this percentage of potholes had been repaired as at Sunday.
24 hours
Amount of time within which the Land Transport Authority typically tries to repair potholes. It had tripled its manpower for the task last month.
On the issue of slope erosion, Dr Khor said LTA conducts quarterly inspections of around 200 slopes located near public roads.
Weekly inspections are conducted for steeper slopes during rainy seasons as these are deemed to have a higher risk of soil erosion.
She noted that there were two episodes of soil erosion at two sections of the slope surface along the slip road from Tampines Expressway (Pan-Island Expressway) to Loyang Avenue and Tampines Avenue 7 last month.
These were the only reported incidents of soil erosion along slopes in the past year, she said.
The two incidents had occurred despite the slope being lined with protective covering, she added.
LTA responded to both incidents by lining the affected areas with concrete. It also closed off the slip road as a safety precaution and redirected traffic from the area.
"When such incidents happen, be it potholes or slope erosion, our priority is rapid response to minimise risks to safety," Dr Khor said.
She added that LTA will continue to study the use of technology for monitoring and repair works for both roads and slopes.
Currently, it takes preventive measures like resurfacing roads in a targeted manner to enhance their durability.
For slopes where pre-emptive measures are deemed necessary, LTA will put in place protective covering to prevent rainwater from seeping into the soil. The slopes could also be reinforced with retaining walls to enhance their stability.
She encouraged motorists to drive safely, look out for potholes and report any defects through the LTA website, the MyTransport.SG mobile app, or the Municipal Services Office's OneService app.
