Pothole repairs – questions and answers

Potholes may occur on a:

• Road
• Pavement
• Footpath
• Bridleway

It is easy to assume that potholes are formed due to roads being poorly maintained but that is not usually the case. There are many factors that can cause potholes, but a combination of weather and wear and tear are a major cause. Potholes also form during the summer months where the foundations of a road have deteriorated but they occur more frequently in winter because:

• Water seeps in through tiny cracks in the road surface collecting underneath.
• Over time water continues to saturate the road base underneath, softening it.
• When water freezes, it expands and forces up the road surface. Traffic travelling on road then adds stress.
• The cycle of freezing temperatures and thawing during the winter months causes further cracks to appear.
• Weight of traffic breaks up the road surface to form a pothole. Wear from traffic then expands the hole.

Potholes may also be caused by:

• Stress from the weight of heavy vehicles
• Essential repairs carried out by utility companies which can weaken the road surface

This varies each year but in a typical year we carry out in the region of 11,000 pothole repairs. On average we fill more than 200 potholes a week, and we’re also carrying out bigger section patch repairs where required.

Yes. We carry out planned highway safety inspections to all the adopted highways within the Bury borough. Every adopted street will be inspected at least once per year and any actionable defects will be issued for repair. We also carry out condition surveys which are reported to the Department for Transport each year.

We have highway inspectors out every day, and every adopted road in the Bury borough (over 660 km) is on either a monthly, quarterly, or annual inspection depending on the nature of the street. As well as this, our inspectors respond to and attend sites where specific concerns have been raised.

Most pothole reports and jobs come from our inspectors (over two-thirds), but if there are potholes near you or on your journey that you are concerned about, you can report them to us.

There is not one cost per pothole. Potholes appear on all types of roads in different shapes and sizes. For example, repairing potholes on busy roads requires a lot of planning and we may need to close roads or use temporary traffic lights to carry out the work safely.

Funds from vehicle excise duty do not come directly to us, they go to central government. Each year, we receive an allocation of funds from central government which we must decide how to use.

Most reported defects are inspected within ten working days. During these safety inspections individual defects are dynamically risk assessed to determine if the defect warrants repair and if so, how quickly it should be repaired.

The greater the risk to highways users posed by a defect the quicker it should be repaired.

Emergency repairs are attended to within two hours. Most minor risk repairs are usually completed within 28 days of reporting by our inspection team, however some defects which are of very low risk to road users may not repaired for up to six months.

Most pothole repairs are carried out by our highway maintenance team. There are two main ways to fill potholes:

1. Filling the pothole with material and compacting it down. This is carried out where it is not possible to carry out a more substantial repair and may use cold material. This method is often used as a temporary measure until a permanent repair can be completed or when a road is due to be resurfaced.
2. Cutting out the area around the pothole, removing all loose material, applying a bond coat (to stick the new material to the surface below), filling the hole then compacting it and sealing it around the edges.

• We have invested in new machinery for faster repairs – our Spray Injection Patcher can fix over 100 potholes in a day.
• As many roads are being resurfaced as possible with the funding available.
• New techniques are being trialled with new materials to make repairs stronger in all weather conditions.
• We are cracking down on utility companies, to monitor the quality of work they carry out - Almost 80% of roadworks in the county are down to utility companies.

We do try to fix all actionable potholes in an area where we can, and we try to minimise and avoid travel time in a day wherever possible. Sometimes though we might not do all repairs in an area at once for reasons such as:

• A team might have to move to another location to do an urgent repair or other high priority job.
• Traffic management might be needed if some of the potholes are in a busy or difficult location so we can do the repairs safely.
• Bigger patching works or resurfacing might be planned on the road, so we might just be making it safe.

To keep the roads as safe as possible our crews will travel to tackle the most dangerous potholes first.

We have over 660km of roads across the Bury borough that we are responsible for, in addition to 1,200 km of footways and other highway assets such as 228 structures, 20,599 streetlighting columns and signage. The cost to resurface every road, would be in the region of £300M, which is not attainable.

Even if there was sufficient funding to resurface everywhere, we would not be able to disrupt the whole network at once and still maintain access for residents, commuters, emergency services, busses and freight.

Residents can help the council by reporting potholes online and by providing an accurate location and other details, for example:

• Provide the name of the street where the pothole is located
• Describe its location, shape and size
• Include specific details such as the nearest landmark and postcode.
• Taking a photo, if possible.

There is a legal process by which members of the public can submit claims for vehicular damage. Any claim will need to be submitted to:

Bury Council Insurance Department, Town Hall, Knowsley Street, Bury BL9 0SW

All claims are fully investigated, and the conclusion of the investigation will be communicated to you in writing. Bury Council will only be liable where it has been demonstrated that the council has failed to identify and/or repair a defect in accordance with its Highway Maintenance Safety Inspection Policy. Typically, we do not accept over 90% of all claims received.