Due to the severe weather the country experienced during the winter months, the highway industry has seen a national increase in the number of potholes. Our Bath and North East Somerset highway term maintenance contract has fixed almost 5,000 potholes this year to date – a number which is only increasing each day. That is already over three times the number of potholes reports we’ve received this year!

To respond to the challenge and to equally saving time and resource, VolkerHighways and Bath and North East Somerset Council agreed to carry out a practical approach by working on a road by road basis and filling in all the potholes in one area, at one time.

During the last two months, we have been tackling the potholes day and night. This includes having two crews working most nights, when roads are quieter, causing less disruption to residents.

Alongside our reactive pothole project, we have also been running a thermal road repair programme to provide permanent repairs to large areas of surface. The ultra eco-friendly thermal road repair system, which joined the contract last year, reheats the existing road surface, bringing it back to a workable state where it can be recycled and used again.

VolkerHighways also run two four-weekly Roadmaster spray injection patching schemes throughout the year. It prepares the site and delivers a mixture of aggregate and binder directly into the pothole or defect. Roadmaster is an environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution to repair a range of road defects including potholes, edge deterioration, cracks and more.

Other works continue to progress in Bath and North East Somerset including public realm improvement works in Eastfield Avenue where the team are reconstructing a concrete road, footpath, carriageway widening and surfacing.

In addition, VolkerHighways and Bath and North East Somerset Council continues to work on its highway resurfacing programme for 2023-24. The programme details 25 planned schemes to be carried out between March and September of this year, alongside a district wide surface dressing programme.   

The council is investing almost £8million in its highway assets over 2023-24, with £3.7million being spent on its annual resurfacing programme. The remaining investment will fund improvements to highway structures, footways, street lighting, drainage and planned patching works.

Jerry Pert, operations director for VolkerHighways, said: “We are doing everything we can to reduce the number of potholes on our highway network in Bath and North East Somerset. Our approach is working well and providing the most value for money. Well done to our crews!”