Inspection regime
Salford City Council has a defined a hierarchy for the adopted carriageways, footways and cycle tracks, based on their strategic importance, traffic flow and other local considerations. Three highway groups have been established, and for the purpose of all highway inspections a correlation between these groups and the standard carriageway classification method from the Code of Practice for Maintenance Management - Well Maintained Highways (July 2005), has been maintained.
Walked safety inspections are carried out as an individually identified process. This ensures that designated inspectors focus on individual defects.
The defined operational processes seek to take into account the safety of all highway users whilst at the same time retaining an awareness of the constraints placed upon the Authority by defined and limited budgets.
The number of programmed inspections Urban Vision carries out per year relates to the road location and classification meeting the suggested frequency outlined in the Code of Practice for Maintenance Management - Well Maintained Highways (July 2005), which can either be walked or driven. Since it is considered impractical to carry out driven inspections within an urban environment, all inspections within Salford are carried out on foot even though it is a more rigorous and time consuming technique.
Inspection frequencies
Carriageway inspections
| Highway groups | CoP hierarchy | Safety inspection frequency (per annum) |
|---|---|---|
| Classified principal roads | Category 2 strategic routes | 4 |
| Classified principal roads | Category 3a main distributor | 4 |
| Classified non principal roads | Category 3b secondary distributors | 4 |
| Unclassified roads | Category 4a link roads | 2 |
| Unclassified roads | Category 4b local access roads | 2 |
All safety inspections are to be recorded on hand held data capture devices. Inspections are carried out on foot, first walking down one side of the footway, inspecting the highway up to the centreline of the carriageway, and then carrying out a similar process on the opposite side of the highway. Any identified defects falling within prescribed intervention criteria are to be subject to an order to make safe and/or repair within prescribed response times. Any defects made temporarily safe within two or 24 hours will be subject to a permanent repair within 28 days.
Footway inspections
| Highway groups | CoP hierarchy | Safety inspection frequency (per annum) |
|---|---|---|
| Classified principal roads | Category 1a prestige walking zone | 12 |
| Classified principal roads | Category 1 primary walking routes | 4 |
| Classified principal roads | Category 2 secondary walking | 4 |
| Classified non-principal roads | Category 1a prestige walking zones | 12 |
| Classified non-principal roads | Category 1 primary walking routes | 4 |
| Classified non-principal roads | Category 2 secondary walking routes | 4 |
| Unclassified roads | Category 1a prestige walking zone | 12 |
| Unclassified roads | Category 1 primary walking routes | 4 |
| Unclassified roads | Category 2 secondary walking routes | 4 |
| Unclassified roads | Category 3 link footways | 2 |
| Unclassified roads | Category 4 local access footways | 2 |
Cycle track inspections
| Highway groups | CoP hierarchy | Safety inspection frequency (per annum) |
|---|---|---|
| Classified principal roads | Category A carriageway | 4 |
| Classified principal roads | Category B footway | 4 |
| Classified non-principal roads | Category A carriageway | 4 |
| Classified non-principal roads | Category B footway | 4 |
| Unclassified roads | Category A carriageway | 2 |
| Unclassified roads | Category B footway | 2 |
| Unclassified roads | Category C off highway | 0 |
This page was last updated on 17 May 2010
