We identify which pavements to resurface based on:
- regular inspections
- annual surveys using specialist equipment
- reports from councillors, parish councils and community groups
- reports from residents – you can report a defect online
We maintain approx. 4000km of footway across Suffolk (excluding Public Rights of Way).
The level and rate of pavement deterioration varies depending upon many factors including construction depth and materials, age of construction, location and subsoil conditions, frequency and type of use, weather, network hierarchy and historic inspection and maintenance regime.
The entire pavement network is divided into sections as defined by the UK Pavement Management System (UKPMS) there are over 19,000 separate sections that make up the highway pavement network. Pavement maintenance standards, in common with carriageway maintenance standards, may not necessarily be reflected by the road classification.
Pedestrian usage may mean that the pavement is more important than the categorisation of the road. Local factors such as the proximity of schools and shops are also important in this context. Therefore, a separate pavement hierarchy has been developed to assist with the prioritisation of the maintenance of pavements. All sections are periodically surveyed to assess their condition and then prioritised factoring in their condition, number of relevant customer reports raised and number of relevant defects raised following routine inspections. This information along with the overarching maintenance strategy, available budget, network hierarchy, site validation and other reported factors provides a basis on which sites are selected for planned maintenance programmes.