Multihogs ready to tackle more potholes across Shropshire in June

A Multihog treating a road near Ludlow

Shropshire Council’s three Multihog road planer machines will be tackling more potholes and other defects on roads across Shropshire next month [June 2022].

The Multevo Multihog planes off the road surface to enable a squared-off hole to be filled by a following gang. It’s quicker than having to saw-cut and break-out the defective road by hand – tackling potholes and other defects more quickly and effectively

In June the Multihogs and their crews are set to treat the following roads:

Crew one (central Shropshire)

• 6 to 8 June – Hereford Road, Shrewsbury
• 9 June – London Road, Shrewsbury
• 10 June – The Parks junction, Shrewsbury
• 13 June – Sundorne service road, Shrewsbury
• 14 to 15 June – Preston Street, Shrewsbury
• 16 to 17 June – Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury
• 20 to 24 June – Belvidere Avenue, Shrewsbury
• 27 June to 1 July – TBC

Crew two (north Shropshire)

• 6 to 24 June – road between A53 junction and A41 junction (ie. through Stoke on Tern)
• 27 June to 1 July – A49 Prees Green to junction with Weston under road

Crew three (south Shropshire)

• 4 to 7 June – A4117 Henley layby
• 8 June to 2 July – B4368 Watling Street junction to tea rooms

Using the Multihog the council can reduce the likelihood of potholes forming in the short-to-medium term and cut down on the need for road closures.

Councillor Dean Carroll on a visit to watch the Multihog in action

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

“The Multihog is a hugely important part of our work to tackle potholes and improve the county’s roads.

“It’s a really important part of our strategy to deliver meaningful repairs to roads across Shropshire, and make them safer for all road users.”

Since April 2021, more than 29,000 potholes have been repaired across the Shropshire Council area.

Other methods used to treat potholes include the innovative Texpatch process, used to treat urban roads, two Roadmaster vehicles, which are used to carry out jet-patching on rural roads, and more traditional repairs by gangs.

Meanwhile, the council’s annual resurfacing and surface dressing programmes help to prevent potholes forming in the first place.

Further information

Since the Multihog was officially adopted in late March 2021, the volume of the road network repaired has risen to around 150m² per gang each day, with three teams deployed across the county. This means an average of 9,000m² of road can be treated each month.

Want to know more?

Here’s a short video showing a Multihog in action.