Skip to main content

Huge repair bill for Britain's potholes

Following one of the coldest winters in recent memory, Britain’s roads have stacked up an estimated £10 billion (€11.5 billion) repair bill just for potholes. These are caused by the freeze/thaw cycle: water seeps into cracks in the road surface, expands when frozen and then breaks up when it thaws. It has been estimated that in Britain there is at least one pothole for every 110m (sometimes many more) and that it will take at least 15 years to fix the problem.
May 15, 2012 Read time: 1 min
The coldest winter for many years has exploited Britain's roads, resulting in thousands of potholes
Following one of the coldest winters in recent memory, Britain’s roads have stacked up an estimated £10 billion (€11.5 billion) repair bill just for potholes.

These are caused by the freeze/thaw cycle: water seeps into cracks in the road surface, expands when frozen and then breaks up when it thaws.

It has been estimated that in Britain there is at least one pothole for every 110m (sometimes many more) and that it will take at least 15 years to fix the problem.

At present it is estimated that, apart from main routes such as motorways, there are some 1.6 million potholes on Britain’s 390,000km of secondary roads.

According to David Weeks, director of the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), the country’s road network is in danger of falling to “Third World” levels.

Related Content

  • Kenya develops annuity road funding model
    May 8, 2015
    Kenya is introducing novel methods for funding its necessary road infrastructure development - Shem Oirere writes. Kenya has unveiled a new financing model for road construction and reviewed its design standards and construction methodologies, which forms part of a new strategy for the East African country. Under this new plan Kenya is planning to upgrade 10,000km of road, with these links featuring asphalt surfacing; the work being carried out over the next five years at a cost of US$2.8 billion. Despite t
  • Pothole problem for England
    January 7, 2025
    Insufficient road maintenance has resulted in a pothole problem for England.
  • Road markings important for road safety
    February 20, 2012
    Manufacturers are constantly upgrading marking materials and equipment. Now those responsible for highways are being asked to do more as Patrick Smith reports. A recent report claimed that nearly one-third of the length of Britain's single carriageway A-roads have white lines so worn out that they do not meet recognised standards. According to the LifeLines Report, an assessment of more than 2,400km of the road network, Britain's most dangerous roads have the most worn-out centre line markings of all, leavi
  • New East Africa highway connecting Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan
    June 8, 2016
    East African countries continue to implement a road Master Plan developed jointly under the East African Community initiative and which aims at integrating the region’s transport corridors to meet the growing demand for road transport by the increasing intra-regional trade and vehicular traffic. Kenya has for example unveiled a US$280 million road rehabilitation project to improve its links with Tanzania and South Sudan with the backing of the African Development Bank (AfDB). Rehabilitation of the 172