Hampshire’s highways teams have acted swiftly to repair the damage to road surfaces caused by February’s wet and frosty weather.
Two high speed patching machines have been brought into the County to help fix potholes, and will be working across Hampshire to repair potholes over the next two to three months.
The velocity patchers have the capacity to fix over 250 potholes a week, and will be focussing on rural areas, including roads in: Headley, East Meon, Selborne, Bordon, Rowlands Castle, Monkwood, Hawkley, Blendworth, Alton, Empshott, Silchester, Mapledurwell, Upton Grey, Hartley Wintney, Andover, Fordingbridge, New Milton, Romsey and Winchester. Each repair is completed within a few minutes and the road is immediately ready for traffic.
Hampshire County Council’s Executive Member for Economy Transport and Environment, Councillor Seán Woodward, said: “Keeping Hampshire moving is one of our key priorities, and with over 5,000 miles of road to maintain in Hampshire, much of it rural, repairing potholes without closing of sections of road is always a challenge.”
“This extra resource will make a big difference in Hampshire. This is a common time of year to see pothole numbers increase but this year we are tackling the problem head on and I hope residents see a big difference. The velocity patchers are ideal for this job because of the way they work at speed means that they can get through hundreds of potholes a week while causing minimal hold ups for traffic.”
Potholes occur when water seeps into the surface of the road, through cracks usually caused by the wear and tear of traffic. When temperatures drop, the water freezes and expands, causing the surface to break up.
When the ice melts it leaves a space below the surface, which collapses under the weight of traffic and eventually forms a pothole. The repeated freeze-thaw effect during the winter therefore makes more potholes form, and it makes them form more quickly.
Really?
Really you could have fooled me ,but has any one seen the pothole on the sheep fair road if it gets any bigger you will be able to see it from space. This hole has been like this now for nearly a year .