Fixing Potholes
A pothole is where the surface of the road has been eroded and a hollow has formed. After a cold spell, the roads will be in a worse state as potholes are created in four steps:
- As roads age they become more porous, having been worn down by traffic.
- Gaps are created in the tarmac when the ice thaws and turns back into water.
- These gaps get bigger which weakens the road.
- The gaps then cave in when traffic travels over the road, causing a pothole.
Repair
Sometimes it’s necessary to make a temporary repair to make the road safe. A permanent repair is made where possible, this involves:
- cutting out the area around the pothole to make a uniform shape with no jagged edges
- cleaning out and coating with a layer of binder to act as an adhesive
- filling the hole with hot road surfacing material which is then raked and compacted
- reopening the road to traffic once the surfacing material has cooled
