Highways defend hole-filling approach as Warwickshire County Council pays out £74,932 to 215 claimants in last year.
The highways department defended its record on pothole repairs this week, despite criticism from motorists.
As reported previously in the Herald (29th February) the recent cold and wet weather has been playing havoc with road surfaces – leaving numerous roads studded with hazardous potholes.
Warwickshire County council received a hefty additional £2.874million to deal with potholes in the chancellor’s spring 2023 budget.
But not everyone thinks the extra cash has been spent it wisely.
Reader Steve Govette told the Herald: “Your piece on potholes was followed a couple of days later by repair work on a number of them along the Stratford Road into Shipston.
“Having retired a while back after 40-odd years in construction I was surprised to see that no sealant had been applied around the edges, back in the day this was known as ‘best practice’ much of which seems to have been replaced by what is known as ‘value engineering’ (saving money).
“In this case the lack of sealant has already been exposed by torrential rain followed by a heavy frost which will have started erosion of the repairs as the ingress of water freezes and expands forcing filling material to break up.”
Mr Govette concluded: “This is a short-sighted cheaper solution which is likely to lead to failure after a couple of winters, leading to the regular failures we see now, and additional cost.”
The council also faced criticism on how hard it is to claim compensation for damage done to residents’ vehicles by potholes.
One reader – who wished to remain anonymous – said he spent months fighting for compensation for his daughter, who is in her 20s, after her car suffered £500 worth of damage due to hitting a deep pothole in Lower Quinton.
“Luckily I’m retired and have time on my hands,” the dad told the Herald. “I had to submit numerous pages to make the claim. It was rejected, and so I rang and asked who could I make an appeal to – and the person answering said me – he was the person who had just rejected it! It was rejected again, before I put in a third appeal and they eventually agreed to cough up but without admitting liability and as a ‘gesture of goodwill’. It’s an absurd and ridiculous system – you have to persevere and not back down.”
Compensation for pothole damage claims paid out by the council since 1st April 2022 to date comes to £74,932, with 215 claims successful.
In the last few years, the council has rejected around 40 to 50 percent of claims.
For a claim to be successful it must be demonstrated that: the highway in question has not been maintained appropriately in accordance with the duties imposed upon the council by law; and that this was the direct cause of the claimant’s accident.
On the issue of road repairs, the council point to its national standing, and the fact that is in the top 10 of authorities in the country for customer satisfaction with road repair and condition, according to the most recent National Highways and Transport Survey.
Responding to Mr Govette’s criticism of the quality of pothole repairs, a highways spokesperson told the Herald: “We do not routinely overband the edges of potholes. There are concerns relating to skid resistance and differential grip between the overbanding and adjacent tarmac. This could cause issues for road users in particular motorcycle and bicycle riders.
“However, we do ensure that our permanent pothole repairs are sealed. We achieve this by first cleaning out the pothole of loose material, and then applying a spray applied sealant on the vertical faces of the pothole. We then fill the pothole with hot tarmac, followed by compaction of the newly laid material.
“Our costs for permanently repairing potholes varies depending on the size, traffic management requirements and other factors such as travel time between potholes, however cost range from £95 to £120.”
Making repairs in wet conditions involves a slightly different approach.
The spokesperson continued: “When we carry out pothole repairs to rectify a safety defect which requires an immediate response, we tend to use 'cold lay' material which is purchased in tubs or bags. The material we use is specifically designed so that it can be applied in wet weather, and still offer a durable repair. In cases where there is a critical safety defect, in order to manage the risk to the public, we would always send a crew out to repair, regardless of the weather conditions. If the repair crew are unable to repair the issue, or they assess the repair needing to be followed up with a more robust repair, they will let my team know.
“If we are undertaking a planned permanent repair of a pothole using 'hot' material, our contractor will remove as much water from the defect before undertaking the repair. Any residual moisture then evaporates by the heat of the material as part of the repair process. This ensures a durable repair even in wet weather.”
