Road maintenance for Chinatown, Malahang starts

WORKS have started to fix the roads between Chinatown and Malahang in Lae, Morobe.
Works regional manager Samson Apai said work will start at Chinatown and move towards Malahang.
The repair work, Apai said, was commissioned after a detailed investigation found existing pavement failures with cracks after just a year of public use.
This stretch of the Independence Drive, costing K33 million, was completed and opened in 2022.
Apai said his team identified a few failures to correct, which included unimproved base course and design errors with arrangement of reinforcement bars that needed to be altered and improved.
He said contractor JV PNG would remove the concrete slabs and redo the road by sections. This would take about eight months.
“For now, the contractor will pay for the cost,” he said. Sections of the road will be closed.
“We have also engaged a Canadian expert to assist us in this upgrade,” Apai said.
He said similar work was also done along the Back Road and Erika Street.
Apai said there were many factors associated with pavement failure.