Multihog road planers to tackle more potholes across Shropshire this month

A Multihog treating a road near Ludlow

Shropshire Council’s Multihog road planer machines will be tackling more potholes and other defects on roads across Shropshire this month [May 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

This month the Multihogs and their crews will be treating the following roads:

Crew one (central)

• 2 to 11 May – B4386 Marlton to Westbury
• 12 to 13 May – C5138 Allfield Land to Great Ryton
• 16 to 20 May – Holyheaad Road, Montford Bridge to urban section
• 23 to 27 May – Norton crossroads

Crew two (north)

• 3 to 4 May – Plas Warren to Cross Lanes
• 5 to 18 May – B4397 Marton to Burlton
• 19 to 23 May – B4579 Selattyn to Ivy House Crossroads
• 24 to 26 May – Myddle village
• 27 May – B5069 Gobowen Road, Oswestry
• 30 May to 1 June – Talbot Street, Whitchurch

Crew three (south)

• 3 to 13 May – Clun to Newcastle
• 14 May – B4555 Eardington to Haybridge
• 16 May to 1 June – A4888 Knighton to Rock Hill Cattery

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 and forms an 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 27,000 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.