How we assess and fix road defects

They walk or drive:

• all major routes monthly
• all secondary routes quarterly
• local access routes at least once a year

Defects that are reported by customers, which have not already been picked up by our routine inspections, will be inspected at the location. Our inspectors will assess what action, if any, will be taken to repair the reported defect.

To help us decide how quickly and what action we need to take; various factors are considered, such as:

• any potential risk to public safety
• the size and depth of the pothole
• the type, speed, and volume of traffic on the road
• the road alignment and visibility
• the location of the damage

Following the assessment if the defect meets the minimum requirements for repair, it will be added to our works programme where it will be prioritised for repair.

We can only investigate problems on roads we are responsible for.

How we fix repairs

We aim to repair potholes with the right type of repair, first time. 

Over time, a road will lose its flexibility and start to become brittle. Traffic will then cause cracks to appear in the surface which, as water seeps through, leads to potholes and other defects. Very cold or wet weather speeds up this process, which is why there are often more potholes at the end of winter.

Choosing the right treatment for repairing our defects is essential for using our budget wisely to keep the roads in the best condition possible with our available funding. As well as traditional methods, we use several innovative approaches to ensure that repairs are carried out quickly, cost effectively and with minimal waste.

Types of treatment

Temporary repairs

Sometimes temporary repairs are made. We do this:

• to make safe a defect quickly, as a permanent repair takes more time and may require a road closure or temporary traffic lights
• when further investigation is required; potholes, or a series of them, may be symptomatic of an underlying problem on the stretch of road resulting in a larger piece of work
• to address urgent safety risks on a temporary basis until we can come back to make a permanent repair
• if weather conditions are going to make a permanent repair less likely to be successful but a repair is needed because of safety concerns

Traditional patching repairs

This method is used to fill in potholes or defects on a length of road, or filling individual or small groups of potholes in a single location. It is a permanent repair which involves removing the defective road surface around the defect and filling with hot material, this often enables the road to then later be surfaced dressed, to further extend its life.

Spray injection patching

This involves a specialist machine spraying binder and stone chippings into defects at high pressure. This technique is a very efficient way of permanently repairing a lot of potholes in a short space of time.

Surface dressing

A layer of bitumen is spread on an existing surface. Chippings are then spread on the surface and rolled in. Over the next few days, traffic on the newly surface dressed roadbeds the chippings into the surface. Surface dressing improves the surface texture and is quick to lay, minimising road closures and disruption for the public. It can last around 10 years. When we use this technique, we regularly sweep the road in the days following but it is important that drivers stick to the temporary speed limits to avoid the risk of skidding and damage to vehicles.

Resurfacing

The top surface layer of a road is removed and replaced. This type of treatment is about five times more expensive than surface dressing and can last up to 20 years.

Reconstruction

This is required when a length of road has deteriorated to a point where we can neither surface dress nor resurface it. Reconstruction consists of digging down to repair or replace the foundation layers of the road and finally resurfacing it. This treatment can last up to 20 years, but at around 15 times the cost of surface dressing, this is a very expensive treatment which can also cause a lot of disruption.