Tarmac lane · Cowfold, West Sussex
A rural lane had broken up into potholes and loose patches that held water and worsened each winter. The owners wanted it resurfaced properly so it would stand up to traffic and the weather.
The project, start to finish
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The brief
A rural lane had broken up into potholes and loose patches that held water and worsened each winter. The owners wanted it resurfaced properly so it would stand up to traffic and the weather.
The work
We cleared and prepared the failed lane, regulated the low spots, then hot-laid a new tarmacadam surface across the full width and rolled it to a smooth, even finish, with the falls set to drain to the verges.
The outcome
A smooth, durable tarmac lane that sheds water and rides cleanly end to end — no more potholes or standing water.
This was a tarmac lane project in Cowfold, West Sussex. We cover Surrey, UK for residential and commercial surfacing.
How we work
Private roads present a different set of constraints from adopted highways. There is no highway authority to coordinate with, but there is a management committee, a group of residents or tenants, a board of trustees, or a single landowner — and any of them can halt a job mid-way if access or disruption is worse than expected. Planning the work is as much about communication as it is about surfacing specification, and that planning starts at the initial survey, not on the first morning of laying.
We walk every road with the client representative — or, where the estate is large, conduct a formal driven survey with a condition record. Surface cracking, edge break, rutting, ironwork settlement, and drainage issues are all logged. The output is a prioritised defect schedule with three tiers: immediate (safety defects), medium-term (structural defects that will worsen rapidly), and planned (maintenance that can be deferred to the next financial year). A phased programme is proposed so spend is sequenced and access is never fully removed across the whole estate simultaneously.
Where overlay is the correct approach, the existing surface is planed to the depth of the new construction — typically 40–60mm for a wearing-course overlay, more for a binder-and-surface two-coat job. Planing produces a flat, keyed surface that bonds correctly to the new material and avoids raising kerb lines or threshold heights. Where full reconstruction is required, carriageway material is excavated to formation level, sub-base brought to the correct compacted depth, and a binder course laid before the wearing course. All arisings are removed from site and recycled through a licensed facility.
Roads that carry regular vehicle traffic are built in two asphalt courses. The binder course — AC20 or AC14, typically 60–80mm compacted — provides the structural layer and distributes load into the base. The wearing course — AC10 close-graded, 25–40mm compacted — provides the running surface, skid resistance, and weather-resistance. Both are laid hot, spread to a consistent depth by paving machine, and compacted by roller in multiple passes. Ironwork — drains, manholes, valve boxes — is adjusted to finished level before the wearing course is laid, not after, which is the only way to produce a flush result.
On estate work, roads are opened in phases as each section reaches full temperature and compaction — typically within a few hours of rolling. We coordinate the phasing schedule with the management committee or facilities manager and provide an updated plan if weather or sub-base conditions require any change to the sequence. A final walk-over with the client representative is standard on all estate contracts, with a snagging list closed out before the final invoice is raised. Documentation provided includes a completion report with as-built depths, materials used, and ironwork positions.
Questions
The owners of properties that front onto or are accessed by the road — the frontagers — are generally responsible for maintenance of an unadopted private road. The exact position depends on the title deeds, any private road maintenance agreement, and whether a residents' association or management company has been set up to administer shared costs. If you are unsure of your position, your solicitor or managing agent can clarify it; we can provide a condition report that sets out what maintenance is needed regardless of who is legally obliged to fund it.
Resurfacing an existing private road with a like-for-like material generally does not require planning permission, as it falls within the scope of maintenance rather than development. Changing the width, alignment, or drainage arrangement, or surfacing a previously unsurfaced track, may require consent. Where the road passes through or adjoins a conservation area or listed property curtilage, additional restrictions may apply. We flag any such issues at the survey stage, but your planning authority or managing agent is the right source of definitive advice.
Yes, and on any estate or multi-property road we plan the phasing before the contract starts. We work in sections, open each section to traffic before moving to the next, and maintain a clear emergency access route throughout. Before work begins, we provide all residents with a plain-language phasing schedule showing which areas will be closed on which days and alternative parking arrangements. The great majority of estate road contracts can be completed without any property being without access for more than a single working day at a time.
An overlay mills off the worn surface and replaces it with a new wearing course — and sometimes a new binder course too — while leaving the existing base intact. It is the right choice when the road structure is fundamentally sound and the defects are surface-level: cracking, fretting, loss of skid resistance. A full reconstruction removes the carriageway to formation level and builds back up through sub-base, binder course, and wearing course. It is required when the base has failed, when rutting or potholing is deep-seated, or when drainage needs to be redesigned. Getting this assessment right at survey stage is the single most important decision in a private road project.
All ironwork — manhole covers, gully tops, valve boxes, stopcock covers — is adjusted to finished road level as part of every resurfacing contract. We rebed or raise each cover before the final wearing course is laid, so the finished surface is flush rather than proud or recessed around the iron. Ironwork left slightly below road level after resurfacing is the most common aesthetic complaint on private road jobs and the most straightforward to prevent. Where ironwork is in poor condition and needs replacement, we flag this at survey so it can be included in the scope.
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