Municipal utilities will monitor how potholes are repaired following excavation work by the water and heating companies in Mykolaiv

Road excavation during heating network repairs. Photo for illustrative purposes NikVesti

In Mykolaiv, during the restoration of pavements, roads and green spaces following repair works carried out by «Mykolaivvodokanal» and «Mykolaivoblteploenergo», representatives of the municipal utilities responsible for maintaining these areas are to be involved. They will oversee how contractors backfill the excavations, compact the soil and restore the surface.

The relevant amendments to the procedure for delineating responsibility for the maintenance of public amenities were approved by the Executive Committee of Mykolaiv City Council on 11 November, according to NikVesti.

As explained by Ihor Nabatov, deputy director of the Department of Urban Services at the Mykolaiv City Council, this proposal had previously been put forward by the municipal enterprise «ELU Avtodorig». It was also supported by «Mykolaiv Parks» and «DEZ «Pilot».

Under the new rules, when restoring areas following excavation work, representatives of the relevant municipal enterprises must be involved:

• Municipal Enterprise «Mykolaiv Parks» — if green spaces have been damaged;
• Municipal Enterprise «ELU Avtodorig» — if the asphalt surface of roads and pavements needs to be restored;
• Municipal Enterprise «DEZ «Pilot» — if tiled pavements have been damaged.

Representatives of these organisations must check the quality of the backfilling of excavations and the compaction of the sub-base before the surface is restored. This applies to works carried out by «Mykolaivvodokanal» and «Mykolaivoblteploenergo».

Ihor Nabatov explained that this approach is being introduced on a trial basis. According to him, this should help to avoid situations where, after repairs are completed, the ground or surface subsides in the restored sections.

«Representatives of these companies must be involved to ensure that the surface is properly sealed, compacted and so on. That way, if subsidence occurs in the future, the responsibility will, so to speak, lie with them and not with anyone else,» he noted.

As a reminder, on Mala Morska Street, a woman fell into an excavation where repair work was being carried out and called for help. Subsequently, another woman also fell into the excavation. She reported that she had scratched her hands and broken her mobile phone. She also noted that there was no street lighting and that the mesh fencing around the excavation was lying on the ground. There was no other fencing in place.

Following this, Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych once again expressed his dissatisfaction with the way the work was being carried out and the lack of proper fencing, as the pits are 3–4 metres deep.

It should be noted that the issue of the numerous excavations in Mykolaiv, fenced off with orange netting, has already been discussed on numerous occasions during staff meetings and city council sessions. Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych pointed out that the work to install prefabricated modular boiler houses is being carried out by contractors commissioned by the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration. The mayor described their work as barbaric. He also claimed that these contractors hate Mykolaiv.