Council to spend £9m tackling potholes – as new treatment methods trialled

The JCB Pothole Pro on the A490 between Chirbury and Forden

Shropshire Council is to spend more than £9 million tackling potholes and defects on the county’s roads over the next 12 months – and is embracing new technology in a bid to get on top of the problem.

In total, £9.15 million has been awarded through the Government’s Pothole Fund, enough to repair around 200,000 potholes.

And this week the council and its partners in the Shropshire Highways alliance – WSP and Kier – are embarking on an ambitious trial using the JCB Pothole Pro in order to deliver quality repairs to the road network. The trial is on the A490 Chirbury to Forden road.

The Pothole Pro planes off the road surface to enable a squared-off hole to be filled by a following gang. It is quicker than having to saw cut and break out the defective road by hand.

Further trials of new technology are set to take place in the weeks ahead.

The JCB Pothole Pro repairing the A490 between Chirbury and Forden

Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, said:

“This funding is very welcome and will be invested into improving Shropshire’s highways network, making our roads safer for all road users.

“And by adopting new technology – such as the JCB Pothole Pro – we can start to deliver on our strategy to invest in meaningful repairs which will last. By taking this approach we won’t have to carry out repeat repairs to the same holes each year, and can prevent future potholes forming in the short to medium term.

“Shropshire Highways is in transition and we are finding smarter ways of working all the time. We know that ‘quality, right first time, repairs’ is the right approach, and this is another way we are ensuring we can delivery that. This process will enable us to start delivering meaningful asset repairs on our strategic network and significantly reduce return visits.”