03/02/2022 - Permalink

Multihog machines to tackle potholes across Shropshire this month

Related topics: Highways, transport and environmental maintenance / Partner organisations

The Multihog in action

Shropshire Council’s new Multihog road planer machines will be tackling potholes and other defects on roads across Shropshire this month (February 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

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.

This month the Multihog will be treating the following roads:

Crew one (south)

  • 31 January to 4 February – C6209 Hopton Castle
  • 7 to 18 February –  B4368 Clun to Newcastle
  • 21 to 25 February – Labrador to Sunrise Cottage (near Kinlet)
  • 28 February to 4 March – A4113 County Boundary to Bromfield

Crew two (south)

  • 24 January to 5 February – Church Road Newcastle to Whitcott
  • 7 to 8 February – B4365 near Stanton Lacey
  • 9 to 11 February – Chapel Lawn
  • 14 to 16 February – Clee Hil Road (Industrial Estate to Hartshall)
  • 17 to 18 February – B4214 Tenbury Road
  • 21 February – Tenbury Road (Titrail to junction)
  • 22 to 23 February – Square End to Ridings Lane, Stottesdon

Crew three (north)

  • 31 January to 4 February – B5065 Darliston Bends, near Prees
  • 7 to 11 February – C2096 Hatton Road, just off A41 between Stoke Heath and Hinstock
  • 14 to 18 February – A41 to Moreton Say junction
  • 21 to 23 February – Talbot Street, Whitchurch
  • 24 to 25 February – Egerton Road, Whitchurch
  • 28 February to 11 March – Ash Parva to Ightfield, southeast of Whitchurch junction

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. Since we started using it last year use of the Multihog has shown a dramatic improvements in permanent road repairs, and it now forms an important part of our strategy to deliver meaningful repairs to roads across Shropshire.”

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.

Other methods used to tackle potholes 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.

And four Roadmaster vehicles are being used to carry out jet-patching on rural roads.

More traditional repairs by gangs are also carried out.

Since April 2021, more than 21,000 potholes have been repaired across the Shropshire Council area.

You can find out more about the use of the Multithog in Shropshire in this short video.