Plans to install a new asphalt plant at the Government Quarry have been submitted for consideration by the Department of Planning.

The application, submitted on behalf of the Department of Works and Engineering, proposed the installation of an asphalt and aggregate screening plant at the quarry in Hamilton Parish.

Documents included in the application said the state of the roads in Bermuda was “unacceptable”, urging a prompt review and assessment of the proposal to expedite the start of work.

The application stated that the asphalt plant was intended to replace an existing facility, with the screening plant introduced to allow foreign aggregate to be graded by particle size to improve the asphalt mixes.

The project also involved renovations to two existing buildings to be used to support the new plants as well as site grading and electrical service upgrades.

The documents stated: “The existing asphalt plant was installed over 20 years ago and it has come to the end of its serviceable life.

“As a result, the ministry can no longer produce asphalt for the country’s roads in a consistent and reliable manner. The ministry has reviewed the current best practices for producing and placing asphalt on our roads based on North American Asphalt Industry standards.

“They are in negotiations with Astec Ltd from Chattanooga, Tennessee, for the supply of a new asphalt plant, a new aggregate screening plant and several pieces of rolling stock to prepare, place and compact the new asphalt paving using properly designed and controlled asphalt mixes to meet our local needs.”

The documents said an old Belco transformer vault would be repurposed to store spare parts, while a former truck tyre warehouse would be renovated to house an asphalt testing laboratory, a maintenance shop, a break room and changing facilities.

“The construction of an above-ground water tank and pump/filter room is proposed to the west side of the existing building to provide potable water and an above-ground septic tank is proposed to collect wastewater from two sinks and the floor drains,” the application noted.

The application also said that the quarry was located in an area with numerous caves and said that “every effort will be made to avoid exposing or building on top of a cave”.

“It is intended to prove that the construction area is clear of caves by conducting a geotechnical review of the area and drilling several exploratory bore holes in areas of heavy equipment loads,” the documents stated.

“We do not expect to drill more than eight 8in diameter holes because most of the equipment loads are small.

“Each borehole will be sealed using the recommendations from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to prevent any surface water entering the ground via these boreholes.”

The Government also recently published a request for proposal seeking a contractor to prepare the site to receive the plant and related equipment.

The notice published on the government procurement website said: “The contractor will be required to grade the site, install underground electrical services, install cast in place concrete footings and bunded concrete containment areas, weigh scale supports, silo footings, equipment pads and other civil and electrical works items.”

Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, announced in June that the new asphalt plant, along with additional equipment, had been purchased from a US manufacturer at a cost of almost $6.2 million.

It was said that the equipment would be shipped to the island by the end of the year with the goal of having the plant up and running by next April.

Colonel Burch said: “This is an investment in the future, and we are expecting that this new equipment will last at least 20 years.”

The Government’s existing plant was put out of action last year, forcing the ministry to buy asphalt from a private company to keep up with its road repair programme.

According to a government spokesman, about 75 per cent of the allocated funding for the new plant was contained in the 2023-24 Budget, with the remaining expenditure coming out of the next fiscal period.