The scorching temperatures experienced in Donegal of late is posing a headache for the roads department of Donegal County Council.
Some road surfaces are being affected as the sun beats red-hot rays on the county’s highways and byways.
The Cathaoirleach of the Donegal MD, Councillor Jimmy Brogan, said that the road surface is “coming up in a lot of places”.
“The chips are down, the tar is up and it will leave the roads in a serious condition when it finishes,” Councillor Brogan told the July meeting of the Donegal MD.
“There is a marble-like surface on roads and it seems like it just on the back roads. Is there anything that we can do differently?
“Global warming is going to make sure that we get warmer summers so we need to do something to be ahead of this.
“There is tar being sprayed over cars in Donegal and these roads will be lethal when they get wet or frosty later in the year.”
Mr Mark Sweeney, the Area Manager for Roads and Transportation in the Donegal MD, said this type of problem was generally found on gradients or on south-facing junctions and roads.
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“The temperatures at the minute are sitting around 25-26 degrees and the ground temperature is about 36 degrees – that is what is causing the problems” Mr Sweeney said.
“It does happen on south-facing roads and you usually find that it happens on bends too where there are a lot of twisting of the wheels.
“It does create an issue when tar comes to the surface and we would try to put on another layer to reinstate chips back into the surface.”