Roadmasters take to Shropshire’s roads to help tackle potholes

Two specialist Roadmaster vehicles have taken to the roads again this month (April 2022) to help tackle potholes on rural roads across the county.

Two Roadmasters currently operate in the Shropshire Council area during the spring and summer months.

Each Roadmaster uses 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.

See a Roadmaster in action in this short video

Each month they treat roads in specified zones – shown on this Roadmaster zones map

This month (April) they have been operating in zones 4 and 14. In May they will be operating in zones 6 to 11, and 14 to 16.

Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways, said:

“The Roadmasters are an important part of our efforts to improve the county’s roads and I’m delighted that they – and their drivers – are now out and about across Shropshire helping to tackle and repair potholes.

“Their work helps us to repair potholes quickly, and with a high quality of repair and makes a huge difference to our roads.”

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

As well as the Roadmasters methods used include the new Multihog road planer, the innovative Texpatch process, and more traditional repairs by gangs.