Local residents are being asked to report any defects on local roads, pavements or footways to Cheshire East Council so they can be repaired as soon as possible.
Following the recent ice and snow the Authority says roads have been left exposed to ‘freeze-thaw’ damage. Potholes are formed when melted snow gets into the tarmac on the roads and freezes. The frozen water then creates a crack which expands, causing the road surface to break up.
Cheshire East Council and its contractor BAM Nuttall, along with local award-winning partners ‘Asphalt Re-lay’, now use new technologies to repair potholes. An infra-red heat source, with additional materials is added to the pothole and compacted to provide a joint-free permanent patch.
The Authority deals with over 20,000 highway defects every year and in anticipation of an increase in reports of potholes following the severe weather, five additional crews have been assigned to deal with repairs.
Cheshire East Council’s Highway Asset Manager, Gary Mallin, said: “This severe weather period which has lasted for almost four weeks, has inevitably had an effect on the road surface and we are already seeing an increase in the number and size of potholes from what we would expect over a normal winter period.”
“We are encouraging residents to report potholes and other damage caused by the weather so that we can give our urgent attention to them. In the meantime, I would urge people to drive carefully on stretches of road where they know potholes have developed until we can get our resources out there to fix them.”
Cheshire East Council have announced they have a specific budget set aside to deal with highways defects which includes the repair of potholes and according to the AA, repairing the potholed roads will cost local highway authorities hundreds of millions of pounds.
Last years Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey, which collects information from local authorities regarding frequency and standards of maintenance, funding and other related issues such as road safety, found there was one hole in every 120 yards of road and that the average cost to fill one pothole was £65.
More than £63 million was spent filling in potholes during 2008/9. However, a further £47 million was lost to compensation claims and extra staff costs.
Local residents are being urged to report potholes to Cheshire East Council by visiting their website or calling 0300 123 5500.
Photograph was kindly supplied by Gillian Martin.
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The Authority has now received thousands of reports of potholes across the area and due to the large number of potholes additional resources have been brought in to help with the repairs.
From January there has been a 100% increase in pothole reports for the same period last year. As a result of this, there are many potholes which have yet to be repaired and resources are being diverted to deal with the most serious defects.
The majority of the potholes have formed following the severe weather conditions experienced across Cheshire East in December and January which has left roads exposed to ‘freeze-thaw’ damage.
Cheshire East Council Head of Environmental Services, Phil Sherratt, said "I would like to thank all those local residents who have taken the time to report potholes. There is no doubt the weather over the past two months has caused significant damage which will take many months and considerable resources to rectify."
“I would urge local residents to remain vigilant and continue to report potholes.”
Local residents can report potholes to Cheshire East Council on 0845 002 0666 or online by going to cheshireeast.gov.uk
Cheshire East Council has a specific budget set aside to deal with highways defects which includes the repair of potholes.