Soapy water is destroying our roads
Many city dwellers have a habit of pouring waste water onto the streets after washing kitchen utensils and clothes or mopping arcade floors. This water usually contains detergents which react with bitumen which is used to make roads, hence affecting its c
Benon Twinamasiko
Many city dwellers have a habit of pouring waste water onto the streets after washing kitchen utensils and clothes or mopping arcade floors. This water usually contains detergents which react with bitumen which is used to make roads, hence affecting its chemical composition.
Bitumen is extracted from crude oil. It is supposed to melt and expand on a hot day and contract on a cold day, hence making tarmac roads “all weatherâ€.
When detergents break the chemical bond of the bitumen, it stops expanding and contracting. Therefore, on a rainy day, water penetrates through the cracks which were left on a hot day and when a vehicle passes, the gravel is swept away, leaving a probable pothole that develops with time.
It is high time engineers in the works ministry embarked on a sensitisation campaign to educate the public on the dangers of pouring detergents on roads.
The public should also know that the road surface is not a trench. Water should be poured in trenches and manholes which are usually put alonside the roads just for that purpose.
Uganda needs a strong law to fight this vice. People should not be left to pour water on roads recklessly. It even inconveniences other road users. With the law in place, anyone caught pouring soapy or salty water onto the road would be penalised to raise money to carry out road repairs. After all, Kampala is full of potholes.
Temperate countries which experience heavy snow downpour during winter have moved away from using salt to clear the snow because it used to depreciate the roads after the winter season.
They have instead resorted to shoving off the snow. When it turns to ice, they spray small size gravel to the main roads and saw dust to feeder ones.
Meanwhile, I challenge all the electrical engineers trained in our country that they cannot just sit back when traffic lights in Wandegeya and other parts of the city are malfunctional.
Many professional jobs — mechanical and electrical engineering and construction — are being done by gamblers, yet the country has qualified people. Don’t you see buildings collapsing? Please, wake up and do something to save our country.
The writer works with
Makerere University
Many city dwellers have a habit of pouring waste water onto the streets after washing kitchen utensils and clothes or mopping arcade floors. This water usually contains detergents which react with bitumen which is used to make roads, hence affecting its chemical composition.
Bitumen is extracted from crude oil. It is supposed to melt and expand on a hot day and contract on a cold day, hence making tarmac roads “all weatherâ€.
When detergents break the chemical bond of the bitumen, it stops expanding and contracting. Therefore, on a rainy day, water penetrates through the cracks which were left on a hot day and when a vehicle passes, the gravel is swept away, leaving a probable pothole that develops with time.
It is high time engineers in the works ministry embarked on a sensitisation campaign to educate the public on the dangers of pouring detergents on roads.
The public should also know that the road surface is not a trench. Water should be poured in trenches and manholes which are usually put alonside the roads just for that purpose.
Uganda needs a strong law to fight this vice. People should not be left to pour water on roads recklessly. It even inconveniences other road users. With the law in place, anyone caught pouring soapy or salty water onto the road would be penalised to raise money to carry out road repairs. After all, Kampala is full of potholes.
Temperate countries which experience heavy snow downpour during winter have moved away from using salt to clear the snow because it used to depreciate the roads after the winter season.
They have instead resorted to shoving off the snow. When it turns to ice, they spray small size gravel to the main roads and saw dust to feeder ones.
Meanwhile, I challenge all the electrical engineers trained in our country that they cannot just sit back when traffic lights in Wandegeya and other parts of the city are malfunctional.
Many professional jobs — mechanical and electrical engineering and construction — are being done by gamblers, yet the country has qualified people. Don’t you see buildings collapsing? Please, wake up and do something to save our country.
The writer works with
Makerere University