Pothole challenge from mild winters

Sweden is seeing an additional pothole challenge from recent mild winters.
By MJ Woof March 26, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Milder winters have actually increased the incidence of potholes in Sweden – image © courtesy of Mike Woof

Mild winters are causing issues for the Swedish road network. High rainfall and varying temperatures are causing additional wear and tear for Swedish roads, with a higher risk of potholes developing than in previous years.

Delivering long-lasting pothole repairs presents a technical challenge. Varying conditions means that the freeze thaw process is increased, as cold stretches with temperatures below freezing point are then followed by milder weather.

The cost of the problem has yet to be identified. However, the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) is now reviewing a series of solutions to reduce the pothole problem.

Maintenance

Related Content

  • Pothole problem in UK
    February 28, 2012
    The UK's Road Surface Treatment Association (RSTA) is voicing concern over moves by one London Borough to downgrade the importance of road repairs.
    Read More
  • A pothole damage breakthrough?
    April 11, 2013
    Academic research by two universities in the same UK city shows that patch repairs on potholes could be far more durable if a few simple techniques were consistently used. Guy Woodford reports. Repairing pothole damage to highways and vehicles across Europe costs responsible authorities and individual motorists hundreds of millions of euros each year. Yet it has cost just €20,204 to make the potentially crucial first step in identifying a method of keeping highways across the continent and beyond pothole fr
    Read More
  • Springtime for the use of analytics
    April 6, 2021
    Samu Karanko of Vaisala Digital argues for more - and better - use of big data analytics to predict winter weather patterns in order to keep roads clear of snow and ice
    Read More
  • UK Road repairs desperately needed
    May 23, 2014
    The 19th Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey published on 3 April 2014 reported that the estimated cost to get England and Wales’ local road network back into reasonable condition has increased to €14.47 billion (£12 billion) from €12.06 billion (£10.5 billion) in 2013. For the second year in a row, more than two million potholes (2,010,749) were filled in England and Wales over the course of the previous year.
    Read More

Highlighted Content