New year and the start of some major planning
As I mentioned last year I have been in talks with some businesses and NGO's
that are either on the island or interested in coming to the island. I
also have been in talks with some folks on the ground to gauge ideas on how to
improve Gonave. I often hear many things, and some are just mobility.
To get from one end of the island to the other, if the roads were paved, would take 45 min or so but due to mainly dirt roads that are in bad condition, it can take several hours. One way to obviously fix this is to pave roads. Well given the small amount of my group has, and the NGO's who provide basics for the population, a paved road is the last thing on many people's minds.
So the alternative is gravel roads. like the one listed below. Gravel roads are used by many places, even in America to solve road issues when paving isn't needed. This partial paving method is key when you need either a temporary road or a permanent road in the future. This road uses 3 quarter or less rock, with allows the smaller rock to wiggle down to the bottom and the larger rock to stay on top. Over time with traffic, it will compact that smaller rock, which means a long road life.
Why is this important?
Well to move people and goods around Gonave needs to have better roads. Now this isn't something I suggest in the bigger cities on the island, but to connect small villages, and communities to each other and to larger cities, this is important. If the road needs to upgraded, there is still a step in between full on paving that is still cheaper than asphalt.
This alternative of gravel has less maintenance than a paved road. Given the large amount of rainfall, a gravel road can handle rain water better than just regular soil, and you don't have to worry about so much repaving and striping. You can re-grade the gravel, and it looks good as new. These types of roads can be built very quickly and can turn a community around over night.
Go Gonave!
To get from one end of the island to the other, if the roads were paved, would take 45 min or so but due to mainly dirt roads that are in bad condition, it can take several hours. One way to obviously fix this is to pave roads. Well given the small amount of my group has, and the NGO's who provide basics for the population, a paved road is the last thing on many people's minds.
So the alternative is gravel roads. like the one listed below. Gravel roads are used by many places, even in America to solve road issues when paving isn't needed. This partial paving method is key when you need either a temporary road or a permanent road in the future. This road uses 3 quarter or less rock, with allows the smaller rock to wiggle down to the bottom and the larger rock to stay on top. Over time with traffic, it will compact that smaller rock, which means a long road life.
Well to move people and goods around Gonave needs to have better roads. Now this isn't something I suggest in the bigger cities on the island, but to connect small villages, and communities to each other and to larger cities, this is important. If the road needs to upgraded, there is still a step in between full on paving that is still cheaper than asphalt.
This alternative of gravel has less maintenance than a paved road. Given the large amount of rainfall, a gravel road can handle rain water better than just regular soil, and you don't have to worry about so much repaving and striping. You can re-grade the gravel, and it looks good as new. These types of roads can be built very quickly and can turn a community around over night.
Go Gonave!
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