The Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC), builder and concessionaire of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), has completed its P171 million maintenance works involving asphalt overlay for 58 lane kilometers of the expressway. This ends the 2011 heavy maintenance program which began last June 2011.

The next phase of the program will resume in 2012 and will cover the next 112 lane kilometers of the NLEX. The total scope of the program is more than 565 lane kilometers.

Rodrigo E. Franco, president of the Manila North Tollways explained that every year, MNTC repaves the NLEX portion by portion. The speed at which the job gets done depends on the degree of damage to the tollway.

This year, maintenance works focused on NLEX Segment 1, from Balintawak to Burol.

To ensure smooth traffic flow despite ongoing maintenance works, MNTC implements a traffic management plan, featuring closure of only two lanes at any given time.

Since asphalting is done on staggered basis, lane closures are limited to a maximum length of 1.5 kilometers with a five-kilometer gap in between.

Asphalted expressways require regular road enhancement works to ensure quality is maintained.

“In NLEX, our policy is not to wait until serious deterioration takes place. This ensures uninterrupted delivery of smooth, seamless travel that is the hallmark of NLEX. In order to maintain this high level of service, we have our maintenance works on the NLEX thoroughly inspected at the end of each year,” Franco said.

Heavy maintenance on the NLEX commenced five years after construction.

Thus, MNTC launched a seven-year heavy maintenance program for the NLEX last year. By 2016, the entire stretch of the expressway would have been repaved with asphalt.