Estonia runs out of asphalt as Swedish and Lithuanian bitumen supplies stop
Tallinn Deputy Mayor Kristjan Järvan said Estonia has run out of asphalt because bitumen deliveries from Sweden and Lithuania have stopped. The city is scaling back its autumn roadworks as a result.
Estonia has run out of asphalt because companies in Sweden and Lithuania are no longer delivering bitumen, the raw material used to make it. Tallinn Deputy Mayor Kristjan Järvan, of the Isamaa party, announced this at a Tallinn city government press conference on Tuesday. The shortage also affects the capital's autumn road repairs.
What happened to supplies
According to Järvan, Estonia usually buys bitumen from two sources, one in Sweden and one in Lithuania. He said the Swedish company decided for reasons still unknown to stop deliveries: a ship that arrived three weeks ago was to be the last this year, with the next one due in spring. The Lithuanian company, he said, immediately raised its prices and then suffered a breakdown at its factory. As a result, asphalt plants in Estonia cannot currently obtain bitumen.
Järvan noted that construction firms with their own asphalt plants probably have their own contracts covered, while any surplus is, as usual, sold on the open market.
Impact on Tallinn
Tallinn is affected because the second supplementary budget set aside money for roadworks this autumn. Both of the city's partners have said asphalt is simply unavailable on the market. Asphalt is still available for resurfacing Liivalaia street, however. Work there began on Monday, and the city will allow an additional two weeks to complete it.
The city will not risk milling up Viljandi maantee and Vabaõhumuuseumi tee to lay new asphalt. Järvan said the aim is to avoid leaving streets dug up for the winter with no asphalt to replace what was removed.
