Road standards proposal wins engineers backing
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Jamaica's engineers are contributing to the drafting of road construction standards—currently in proposal form by the state-led standards body—aimed at addressing the country's deepening pothole crisis.
“The Jamaica Institution of Engineers is involved in a leading way," said president Dr Balvin Thorpe in a Financial Gleaner interview.
He pointed to the participation of civil engineer David Allen, who chairs the Road Construction Technical Committee — the body responsible for developing the standards — along with JIE past president Dr Noel Brown and other members.
"With the involvement of the JIE the current draft standard specification for road materials has benefited from the input and oversight of the JIE and has its full support," Thorpe said.
The Bureau of Standards Jamaica, is inviting public comment on the proposals until 4 July. The draft sets technical requirements for every layer of road construction to ensure durability, directly addressing concerns about the short lifespan of current road repairs.
"The works covered under these specifications include all labour, materials, equipment, and operations necessary for the construction of roadways, associated earthworks, structural backfill, granular layers, bituminous treatments, and asphalt concrete surfacing," the BSJ draft document states.
The standards draw on existing frameworks, including the Jamaican Standard Specification for Ready-mixed Concrete, the National Works Agency's Technical Specification effective December 2015, and standards from the American Concrete Institute.
The timing is pointed: Jamaica is currently disbursing some $40 billion through the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to its Road Network programme — known as SPARK — alongside the National Road Services Improvement Programme, the GO Road Rehab Programme, and parish-level repairs. Despite the scale of investment, newly repaired roads frequently develop potholes within months of completion, often after the first heavy shower.
The standard attempts to close the technical gap with precise construction tolerances. On asphalt temperature alone, the document is unambiguous: laying temperature must exceed 135 degrees Celsius and rolling must be completed before the material cools below 85 degrees Celsius. Asphalt laid or rolled outside these thresholds does not bond properly, leaving surfaces vulnerable to cracking and pothole formation — a failure mode engineers say is common on Jamaican road projects.
Material quality thresholds are equally stringent. Aggregate used in the wearing course must record a Los Angeles Abrasion value below 40 per cent after 500 revolutions, a laboratory test that measures how road aggregate breaks down under repeated impact. The California Bearing Ratio for base course material must reach a minimum of 80 per cent, ensuring the road foundation can withstand Jamaica's heavy rainfall and traffic conditions.
"The works covered under these specifications include all labour, materials, equipment, and operations necessary for the construction of roadways, associated earthworks, structural backfill, granular layers, bituminous treatments, and asphalt concrete surfacing," the BSJ draft document states.