Parkes Shire Council’s Director of Operations Steve Barry highlighted Section 89 of the Roads Act 1993 when replying to a question from Cr George Pratt regarding the damage caused to vehicles by wet tar during roadworks on both the Forbes and Orange roads.

Cr Pratt said the Forbes Road, near the BP 24-hour petrol station, had been left in a messy state by contractors.

“Gravel that was put down over hot mix just disappeared as vehicles were allowed over it,” Cr Pratt said.

“Big pieces of gravel were picked up – leaving pot holes in the new work. It was totally unacceptable,” he said.

In his reply to Cr Pratt, Mr Barry advised that the nature of reseal works usually resulted in some excess aggregate.

“This is to allow any gaps to be filled by the aggregate as vehicles pass over it,” he said.

“The design is for most of the stone (two thirds) to be embedded into the bitumen to ensure a strong bond.”

He said that unfortunately bitumen can be dislodged with stone, resulting in some bitumen sticking to vehicles.

“This is unavoidable but can be reduced by traffic travelling slowly on new work.”

He tabled the section which goes under the heading ‘Roads authorities not liable for damage by tar’. It read as follows:

(1) A roads authority is not liable for any damage caused by moist or liquid tar that it applies to any portion of a road in the course of carrying out road-work if:

(a) that portion of road is closed to traffic while the tar is applied and for a reasonable time after it is applied, and

(b) the tarred portion of the road is covered with sand or road metal before it is reopened to traffic.

(2) in this section, ‘tar’ includes bitumen and bituminous compounds.