Pothole repairs

Reactive repairs including potholes

In addition to larger maintenance schemes, we also carry out reactive repairs, which includes repairing potholes.

Section of the C1234 showing surface patching repairs

Section of the C1234 showing surface patching repairs

How a pothole is formed

  1. Rain water gets into cracks in the road surface
  2. When the temperatures drop, the water then freezes and expands, making the cracks bigger
  3. The water then melts and evaporates in warmer conditions
  4. The road surface becomes weaker, the cracks then get broken down by traffic

Illustration of how a pothole is formed

 

Road inspections and reporting defects

We have Locality Stewards who carry out regular walked or driven inspections of all council-maintained roads across the county. Rural roads are inspected annually, while busier routes are inspected more often.

During inspections, they look for any defects such as:

  • Potholes
  • Cracks in the road surface
  • Sunken ironwork
  • Blocked drainage
  • Flooding
  • Other issues

They assess the risk associated with the defect, such as its location, the volume and types of traffic and the visibility at the site. The defect is then recorded and a job raised for a repair.

The defect may also be marked with temporary road marking paint to enable the repair team to easily find it.

Defects are allocated one of the two following categories:

  • Category 1 – These are defects that require prompt attention because they present a significant, immediate or imminent risk to highway users or because there is a risk of structural deterioration
  • Category 2 – These are defects which, following a risk assessment, are not considered to present an immediate or imminent hazard to road users

All defects are also categorised as either high priority (Priority A), medium priority (Priority B), or low priority (Priority C) with different response times assigned to each.

We also receive reports from the public about potholes and other defects on the network. You can report road problems on this website or by calling 01432 261800.

Any reported defects are inspected by the Locality Stewards who can then record and raise a job for a repair if the issue is believed to pose a risk to highway users.