New machines are out on roads filling up potholes
Two Velocity road patching machines are being deployed across West Sussex to proactively seek and fill potholes.
The initiative is part of a two-pronged ‘attack’ on potholes, with the innovative Velocity system used in addition to the traditional inspection/ repair regime.
The road patchers are used to fill potholes sizeable enough to need filling under safety criteria but also to repair defects likely to further deteriorate and reach that level in the near future.
When selecting routes to attend, the teams focus on those with the highest, historic pothole numbers, to try to optimise value for money and results.
In the first four weeks of 2022/23, the two machines completed more than 1,100 repairs and treated approximately 3,000sqm of the highway network.
Joy Dennis, West Sussex County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “We know how important the condition of our roads is to residents and are proactively tackling the issue of potholes.”
How Velocity works: highvelocity air is used to remove all dust and debris and openup cracks at the bottom of the pothole to ensure a solid, stable repair
A cold bitumen emulsion is forced into every crack and crevice under pressure, sealing it and making it watertight. The operator switches on the aggregate mix, which is fired at high velocity through a nozzle, evenly coating the granules with bitumen emulsion and building up the waterproof seal, with no joints
If required, the aggregate mix is compacted with a ‘wacker plate’ and the repair is traffic ready.