Potholes Could Be Back In Kent

21 December 2010, 08:51

Kent County Council is boosting the number of crews fixing Kent’s roads by more than a third to tackle the expected increase in potholes following recent sub-zero temperatures.

The 12 extra gangs are being brought in as required to work alongside 33 teams dedicated to keeping Kent’s roads safe throughout the year.

Kent County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste Nick Chard said:

“We know that every winter potholes form as a result of ice in the road surface freezing and thawing. This can be very damaging to roads, depending on how bad the weather is. We are ready to hit the ground running this year after significantly increasing the number of crews dedicated to fixing potholes in the county’s roads.

“The gangs will aim to make a permanent first-time repair where possible. In early spring next year we will take stock of how much damage has been caused and whether any further action is required.”

Earlier this year, Kent’s road chiefs drafted in an army of small and medium-sized local, specialist tarmac firms to mount a six-month ‘find-and-fix’ campaign following the worst winter in 30 years. The gangs fixed 31,000 potholes and resurfaced more than 122,100 square metres of road as they repaired every fault in the roads they worked on, not just safety-related potholes, carrying out around six times the amount of work than would normally have been done.

“We made an enormous investment this summer and we did an enormous amount of repairs to our roads, but not just any old repairs – they were absolutely first class, quality repairs. We are confident those potholes that we repaired will stand up to the conditions we have had so far.