This week started with more bad pothole news and calls for Government action. The AA reported that callouts to vehicles damaged by potholes is hitting a five-year high with 50,418 callouts in September alone.
Later this month, the AA says that it will be meeting with Government – as part of the Pothole Partnership – to present its five-point plan for tackling potholes. The plan, featuring lots of ‘Ps’ and listed below, was first aired back in January 2024 when the partnership was formed.
· Permanent: Local authorities to limit the practice of temporary pothole repairs or patches and, where possible, every pothole or patch to be repaired permanently.
· Precise: All local authorities / contractors to adhere to UK-wide repair and inspection standards, and report annually on the repairs undertaken.
· Price: Government to demonstrate greater urgency by accelerating and increasing spending of the £8.3bn pothole funding for England in the first three years – with total clarity on the distribution to local authorities.
· Provision: Central and local government to guarantee ringfencing of ALL road maintenance funding to help deliver innovations that enable permanent repairs.
· Progress: Full transparency from local authorities on their roads repair backlog, categorised by potholes, patching works and road resurfacing.
Thermal Road Repairs (TRR) has long argued about the importance of making pothole repairs permanent. In fact, it was this goal which triggered the development of our low-carbon pothole repair technology in the first place.
When researching pothole repair methods, we discovered that the weak point in most pothole repairs was the cold joint between the existing road surface and the material used to patch it. Temporary pothole repairs, which have to be executed fast, and which may use a cold patching material, will tend to have an even weaker bond at the perimeter of the repair.
Even when the edges of a pothole repair have been created and treated with care, tiny cracks along the joint can still form and then widen over time to eventually form potholes. Using ‘innovative’ equipment, which simply replicates the same process in a more time-efficient way by putting all the tools needed on one machine, still carry risks of failure.
TRR’s system uses a thermal infrared heater to heat up failed and failing material in the pothole and the asphalt surrounding the pothole in a controlled way. The existing, heated material is then mixed with a small quantity of new hot asphalt and compacted into place. This means that there is no joint at all, the repair is seamless, preventing the pothole from reforming.
The system is also low carbon; emissions are reduced by over 80% compared to traditional techniques. And, since it reuses existing material, it is a zero-waste process requiring far fewer vehicle movements: just one unit brings both the equipment needed and the fresh, hot asphalt.
While temporary pothole patching may still be required on very heavily trafficked roads, some local authorities have discovered that TRR’s system is both fast and permanent. It also requires far fewer vehicle movements and does not use any noisy equipment, making it perfect for use within local neighbourhoods.
With the right choice of technology, it can be possible to do it once, do it fast and do it right.
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Thermal Road Repairs: Decarbonising the asphalt repair industry.
High output. Low emission. Zero waste. Permanent solution.
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