UK: Pothole-free guarantee for five years?

Contractors and utilities companies in the UK could be guaranteeing roads to be pothole-free for five years, according to new proposals. At the moment, the guarantee is two years but the Department for Transport is conducting an eight-week public consultation on the subject. Street Works UK, which represents the utilities sector, argues that the an increase is not needed. The department is also seeking more innovation into how to better repair potholes, such as using asphalt with a higher bitumen c
March 12, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Pothole panic: Contractor guarantee against potholes could rise from two to five years

Contractors and utilities companies in the UK could be guaranteeing roads to be pothole-free for five years, according to new proposals.

At the moment, the guarantee is two years but the Department for Transport is conducting an eight-week public consultation on the subject.

Street Works UK, which represents the utilities sector, argues that the an increase is not needed.

The department is also seeking more innovation into how to better repair potholes, such as using asphalt with a higher bitumen content.

Last October the UK government promised local authorities in England an extra €488 million to repair damaged roads and to keep bridges safe.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance, many of whose members repair potholes, has claimed that one in five local roads in England and Wales is in a poor condition. The groups also says that more than €9 billion is needed to make the repairs.

Maintenance

Related Content

  • Rural Roads for Development: a chat with Dr Michael Burrow
    October 8, 2019
    For the last seven years the University of Birmingham has been organising – together with IRF (Geneva) the Rural Roads for Development course in Birmingham. The week-long course is very much a hands-on course delivered by experts from around the world on a topic of relevance to the sustainable provision of rural roads. Ahead of this year course edition which will be hosted on 9-13 September, Dr Michael Burrow from Birmingham University answered key questions about rural transport. Q: How can improved rur
    Read More
  • Salini Impregilo morphs into Webuild
    May 19, 2020
    The name of a major player on the international construction scene has changed.
    Read More
  • Export ‘first’ for Viafix
    May 30, 2012
    VIATEC UK, the Bath, south-west England-based manufacturers of road maintenance and reinstatement products, has exported its first order of the pothole repair, Viafix, to Malaysia. While on holiday in the UK last winter, Australian highway engineer John Hare saw Dorset Highways using Viafix to repair potholes in heavy rain. “He asked one of the maintenance team how they could fill potholes under such adverse conditions. The maintenance team explained about Viafix and explained how easy to use it had been,
    Read More
  • ERIC2016 the driver to European prosperity
    June 22, 2016
    From 18-20 October 2016, the European Union Road Federation (ERF), in partnership with the Road Safety markings Association (RSMA) will present the 1st European Road Infrastructure Congress (ERIC2016) in the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. Spanning three days, ERIC will bring together policymakers, road authorities, academics, research laboratories and industry representatives from across Europe and other countries to exchange good practices and present new research findings. The focus is on how to imp
    Read More

Highlighted Content