More than 10,000 potholes repaired in Shropshire since April

The Multevo Multihog

More than 10,000 potholes and other road defects have been repaired in the Shropshire Council area since the middle of April [2021], latest figures show.

In total, 10,357 defects have been tackled since 19 April – an average of more than 500 per week – with more being repaired every day.

And 96% of these repairs are permanent ‘right first time’ repairs, compared to 25% just 18 months ago.

As part of efforts to improve the county’s roads, crews from Shropshire Council and its contractor Kier are out across the county every day tackling potholes in a variety of ways.

Methods include the innovative new Texpatch process, which is being used to treat urban roads and provides a longer-lasting, smoother, neater finish compared to traditional pothole repairs

Work is also carried out using the new Mulithog road planer (pictured) which treats potholes and  other defects more quickly and effectively, reduces the likelihood of potholes forming in the short-to-medium term and cuts down on the need for road closures.

And four Roadmaster vehicles are being used to carry out jet-patching on rural roads. Roadmasters use compressed air to blow water or dirt out of a pothole that needs repairing and then fill it with hot bitumen and chippings. The repair is compacted by a roller and sealed with a layer of surface dressing – meaning a better quality of repair.

More traditional repairs by gangs are also carried out.

Repairing a pothole through Texpatching

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways, said:

“These figures are really encouraging, and provide evidence of the work we’re carrying out every day to improve the county’s roads.

“There are still are a lot of potholes and other defects in need of attention right across the county, but we’re working hard to tackle them and to make the county’s roads safer for all road users.”

For more information visit www.shropshire.gov.uk/highways