NZ First

[Lilith7]

They did up the weight limits for the trucking industry, beyond which NZ roads were designed to withstand...

Having travelled from Taranaki to AKL return last week I had to endure a number of single lane sections of road in the hilly areas around Awakino and Mahoenui where subsidence far below the road level had resulted in the road formation slipping away. My thoughts were of the possibility of the seismic shock waves from 50T HVs destabilising the geological formations in these cases.

During a delivery to our depot a couple of weeks ago the long haul truck driver commented on such road failures in his travels. The cost of repairing a road failing due to subsidence of a slope 40 or 50m below the road level is very difficult and therefore hugely expensive. Totally different scale to putting gravel and new seal over a pothole.

Isn't it odd, that most govts simply can't - or perhaps won't - see that that old saying 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' makes good sense. 

And that could be applied to many areas rather than just roading - our health system, for starters.