Commendable work

• HAS the Camden highways department operation been struck by the spirit of long-retired Dougal Gonsal, its former long-serving chief engineer?

It is rare these days to notice jobs on road surfaces carried out to a proper standard and with durability of the project kept in mind. Just think of potholes… and think of the cabinet system…

I notice that a short stretch of Adelaide Road near the Chalk Farm Underground station was resurfaced over the last weekend and the quality of the new highway surface is commendable.

The skill level demanded of, and deployed by, the contractor for its operation reminds me of the former chief engineer Dougal Gonsal.

Having known him for decades, he always insisted, without fail in writing and verbally, that where newly-laid asphalt surfaces were meeting old asphalt surfaces the joint must be sealed with a hot rolled seam to stop water seepage into the substrate and affecting the durability of the surface.

HERMAN TRIBELNIG
Camden Town Urban Design Improvement Society
POB 10850, NW1 8LG