They are the scourge of Britain’s dilapidated roads and responsible for seriously damaging hundreds of cars a week. Now Surrey County Council is promising frustrated motorists it can beat the menace of potholes with a new road building technology.
More than 800 roads in Surrey are to be given "pothole proof" coatings over the next three years in an initiative to overhaul more than 300 miles of road. The contractors carrying out the work for Surrey County Council are so confident of their new technique that the roads come with a 10-year no pothole guarantee.
The council, which is believed to be the first in the country to use the technique, has already lined up 177 roads to be rebuilt this year. Engineers will rebuild the roads from scratch and then apply a pothole-resistant coating of special ‘Superflex’ asphalt that is highly water resistant and flexible. By going back to the road’s foundations, engineers say they will also make the roads more resistant to vibrations and movement, meaning less damage.
A spokesman for the council said: “We are not just slapping on another coat of asphalt, we are digging up the road and going back to bare bones. We're relaying the entire foundations."
The council has in the past been criticised for having some of the worst potholed roads in the country.
Jason Russell, the council’s assistant director for highways, said: “We can’t go on papering over the cracks with quick fixes to tired old roads forever. Improvements in road building and new watertight surface treatments such as Superflex mean many of the new roads will come with a 10 year guarantee from the contractor.
“Our main problem is that some of our roads are crumbling at the base, making them very susceptible to damage. This is why we’re planning a £100 million project to rip out our worst roads and rebuild many of them from scratch, making these roads resistant to potholes for a decade"
Comment: It will be interesting to see how much of the new technology finds its way into the improvement of Spelthorne's road networks.
