An innovative new way of repairing potholes more quickly, quietly and effectively is being used to tackle potholes in Shropshire’s towns and villages.
Since 21 June 2021 more than 2,600 potholes and other defects covering a total of 9,500m2 have been treated in towns across the county including Oswestry, Whitchurch, Broseley, Ludlow, Shifnal and Cleobury Mortimer.
Under the new process, potholes on urban roads are cleaned out, filled with a material called Texpatch, then covered with a neat, square patch.
According to Shropshire Council, this provides a longer-lasting, smoother, neater finish compared to conventional pothole repairs, and seals up all joints, which should result in an increased life span for the repair.
Its focus is to repair a large number of potholes, with up to 40 being be repaired each day – compared to 20 per week using the more conventional ‘cut out and fill’ method.
The work is being carried out by Shropshire Council and its partners in the Shropshire Highways alliance, Kier and WSP, and L&R Roadlines.
Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “Using Texpatching we’re repairing the roads in our towns and villages, with hundreds of potholes treated in the past two months, and many more to be tackled in the weeks ahead.
“Using this process for treating urban potholes also frees up crews to tackle potholes in rural areas using our four Roadmaster vehicles, the new Mulithog road planer and more traditional repairs by gangs.
“There are still are a lot of potholes and other defects in need of attention right across Shropshire, but we’re working hard to improve the county’s roads and we’re making really good progress.”
The work is reportedly also much quieter than conventional repairs and can be carried out at night, as it doesn’t require the use of mechanical tools, other than an air hose, which will be used to clean out debris from the defect. Furthermore, night working allows more work to be carried out as there aren’t the same traffic restrictions.
The process is said to be so quick that it is technically classed as mobile works and therefore traffic management isn’t be needed for the vast majority of the repairs, reducing disruption and inconvenience to road users while work is carried out.
