Standardisation could be key to solving pothole crisis

With local authorities continuing to come under fire for the number of potholes on local roads, Aggregate Industries’ Contracting Division has revealed that standardisation of asphalt specification could help to improve the durability and performance of local roads.

It comes as latest figures suggest that motorists are facing the worst pothole crisis in almost a decade, with a record 10,000 reported in the last four months.

According to the Asphalt Industry Alliance, around a fifth of UK roads are considered ‘structurally poor’ - meaning that they only have five years of life remaining.

For cash-strapped local authorities facing a £9.31bn road repair backlog, the result has been mounting pressure from the public to improve the condition of local roads – and standardisation of asphalt specification has a huge role to play, says Aggregate Industries.

Paddy Murphy, Managing Director of Contracting Services at Aggregate Industries, commented: “There’s no mistaking that repairing potholes on local roads is expensive business and, credit to many cash-strapped local authorities, over the past decade they’ve collectively spent more than £1bn fixing 17.9 million potholes across the UK.

“However, at present many local councils take a reactive approach to road maintenance, whereby each local authority uses different methods and materials to carry out roadworks, including pothole repair – meaning the process can sometimes be inefficient and costly. As such, given the escalating deterioration of Britain’s roads, the case for local authorities to adopt a standardised strategy to asphalt specification and road surfacing has never been greater.

“For local governments grappling with ever-tighter budgets, carrying out planned and proactive road maintenance doesn’t have to cost the earth. In fact, with the help of road surfacing experts such as ourselves it can actually go a long way in preventing potholes from occurring in the first place – and in the long-run will prove much more cost-effective in building a road network for the longer term.”