Sticky situation for local Orangemen on parade

As the local Orangemen and bands made their way along the Ballinderry Road to the field, they found the going getting increasingly difficult as the tarmac on the road started to lift.

According to one local Orangeman people were even losing their shoes as they were sucked off their feet by the tacky road surface on the way to the field.

“It was a total nightmare,” said one Lisburn Orangeman.

“The soles of your shoes were sticking to the road and indeed there were times that we had to walk the banner in single file down the only line of good tarmac.

“People’s flip flops were sticking in the tar some women lost the heels of their shoes.

“That being said, it was still better than being drenched by the rain,” he added.

Another Orangeman agreed; “It was great to see the weather so good. The tar made a mess of my shoes but they were easy cleaned.”

A spokesperson for the Roads Service said that Lisburn had not been the only area with roads affected by the high temperatures last week.

“The recent spell of prolonged hot weather has affected some of Northern Ireland’s roads,” she said.

“Most road surfaces are black and absorb the sun’s heat, and so the recent hot sunny weather has seen road surface temperatures soar to over 50 degrees Celsius (Centigrade).”

She continued: “The result is that the bitumen in some roads has softened, with the stone chippings sinking into the road surface.

“As an immediate response, Roads Service has been spreading fine dust on the worst affected roads, to soak up the excess bitumen and keep problems to a minimum.

“When the full extent of the problem becomes clear, specialist re-texturing machines may be brought in to get rid of the excess bitumen, but this can only be done when the road surface has cooled and hardened.

“The current surface dressing programme has been suspended until surface temperature returns to operationally permissible levels,” she concluded.