New pothole repair trial for Leeds aims to fix roads in 30 minutes
A third innovative pothole repair system is being trialled in Leeds in a bid to repair roads in under 30 minutes.
The news comes after a senior councillor warned yesterday that a “pothole blitz” is needed to tackle the state of the roads as the city faces a repairs backlog.
Alan Lamb, who leads the Leeds Conservative group, said fixing the highways would cost £300,000 and take years at the current rate.
He said the roads were deteriorating, even after government funding had increased.
The latest system undergoing testing uses a Thermal Road Repairs machine to heat the existing road surface with infrared technology, making the bitumen malleable without burning it.
Once heated, the existing asphalt is loosened, raked, and a small amount of new material is added to repurpose the existing surface. The mixture is then compacted to create a seamless, waterproof repair.
The trial follows last year’s report to the council’s infrastructure, investment, and inclusive growth scrutiny board on its highway maintenance strategy, where members welcomed a proactive approach to strengthening the city’s pothole repair capability.
The strategy received further backing in January, when councillors agreed to commit an additional £13 million in funding to pothole repairs and another £1 million in capital investment towards new pothole filling technologies.
Leeds City Council’s executive member for economy, transport and sustainable development, Coun Jonathan Pryor, said: “As a council, we are giving highway maintenance the priority it deserves through additional funding and investment in new pothole filling technologies.
“While road repairs and potholes have been a high priority for some time, the wet start to the year has damaged road surfaces across the city, giving even more impetus to finding new methods of delivering fast, high-quality and cost-effective methods of pothole repair.
“The new pothole filling technologies we are trialling could not only help tackle the backlog of existing road defects but also support our response to new issues created by the recent wet weather.
“I look forward to seeing the results of these technologies as I’m confident that they can help speed up and strengthen our response to road defects, while also offering cost-effective and efficient ways to keep our city moving.”