Potholes: how much they cost the UK and how they are fixed

Hampshire County Council’s Colin Taylor is impressed. “Our road network took a real battering four years ago and the number of potholes has increased,” he says. “The last thing we want is a temporary repair that we have to fix again. This is good preventative maintenance. It’s robust enough to stop water getting into the hole – which is what usually does the damage – and it provides a sealed surface and a new friction surface, all with just one operator. If the operator sees other potholes not previously reported, he can fix those, too.”

Whether it’s Perth and Kinross Council’s controversial announcement in 2016 that it was increasing its “pothole intervention levels for repairs” from a hole size of 40mm to 60mm (a spokesman said it would continue to repair dangerous holes without delay), or Calderdale Council boasting that it repaired 2000 holes in April alone, potholes are a hot topic.

The pothole in the government's repair plan

They have been since 2012, when the UK had its second-wettest year on record. Roads were weakened from beneath by rising groundwater and from above by tyres forcing water into cracks, compressing the surface and breaking it open. On top of that, utility companies are continually digging up roads, and their repairs aren’t always to standard.

The resulting potholes (70% of councils define a pothole as being a 40mm-deep cavity in the road) can shred tyres and crack wheels. In a 2016 survey, 39% of the AA’s members claimed their cars had been damaged by potholes. Of this number, 28% said a wheel, its tyre and the car’s tracking had been damaged. The survey found that members in Scotland were the worst affected, followed by those in Yorkshire and Humberside.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA), whose members provide road maintenance services to local authorities, said its annual survey of local councils had revealed that a combination of bad weather, rising traffic levels and what it described as “decades of underfunding” were taking their toll on the nation’s roads.

AIA chairman Ian MacKenzie said: “Local roads are deteriorating at a faster rate than they can be repaired, and more significant problems for the future are building unseen below the surface.” Local councils agreed. The Local Government Association (LGA) said addressing what it called the “roads crisis” was becoming increasingly urgent, but the average highway maintenance budget per local authority had fallen by 16%.

LGA transport spokesman Peter Box said: “Councils fixed a pothole every 15 seconds last year, but they remain trapped in a cycle that will only ever leave them able to patch up deteriorating roads.”