HC Deb 21 November 1962 vol 667 cc1207-8
39. Mr. Charles A. Howell

asked the Minister of Transport what steps he is taking to provide an adequate standard in the future construction of motorways in view of the fact that five lives have been lost within two weeks on the 20-mile section of the M.1 under repair where standards have been found to be inadequate.

Mr. Marples

Without necessarily accepting the implication behind the hon. Member's Question, I can say that we do change our standards when experience shows that to be necessary. The current standard specification for motorways provides for stronger carriageways, wider and stronger hard shoulders and more elaborate drainage than on M.1.

Mr. Howell

In view of the fact that the Minister admitted to me in a letter, dated 31st October, that a calculated risk was taken in the specifications of M.1 and he appeared subsequently on television and boasted that he or his firm had taken a calculated risk in building a concrete dry dock, may I ask the Minister whether he will now give the House an assurance that he will not take calculated risks on our motorways with the lives of British people?

Mr. Marples

No, I am sorry, but it is not a question of that. All engineering is a question of balance of advantages. Anybody can build to high security standards if they are prepared to pay the price, but to produce what one wants—an efficient tool or an efficient article—at the lowest price is real efficiency and in some cases one takes a calculated risk. In spite of the cost of repair on M.1, if that is added to the original cost it will turn out to be the best and cheapest motorway in the country.

Mr. Gresham Cooke

Is there not a great deal of doubt whether this road is strong enough to take the heavy pounding of traffic on it? Will my right hon. Friend consider whether reinforced concrete would not be a better and more durable surface for the road?

Mr. Marples

If my hon. Friend wants to go into this he should go to the Road Research Station at Crowthorne and have a look at the experiments there. It is not so much a question of top dressing. What really counts in engineering is the foundation on which it is laid. First, concrete gets a little ahead as a top surface and then black top. It depends on technical developments which are altering all the time.

Mr. Howell

Does not the light hon. Gentleman still agree that the cost in human lives is too much in order to take a calculated risk to save a few thousand pounds on a motorway?

Mr. Marples

As far as lives are concerned, this particular incident has affected them hardly at all. It is not a question of people being killed but of inconvenience to motorists who have to slow down at a particular point.

Mr. Howell

In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter on the Adjournment at the earliest opportunity.