Pothole Parade

[David Whipp]

Thanks Stanley; reported.



Greenberfield Lane. On a subsequent visit, the innocent looking water filled hole pictured turned out to be 5" deep. Since Saturday, I'm told the potholes along the lane have been marked out for repair.

[Stanley]

Got your mail.....

[David Whipp]

Chapman Court. You can see last winter's repaired potholes next to the new crop.

[Tripps]

I have taken an interest in this thread since I live in an small unadopted road, which is showing signs of wear. I'm liable for a third of any cost, so did a bit of research. I found this site which looks as is they know what they are talking about. All you need to know about Tarmac.

Loos like I'd better start saving......

[David Whipp]

There are a few good contractors round here (but many more cowboys).

You could look at making the road up to an adoptable standard?



West Close Road at its junction with Skipton Road. For some reason, there's a problem with lots of repairs on the section of carriageway where people cross the road. (It may be services in the footway.) This occurs at several junctions in Barlick.

[Tripps]

"You could look at making the road up to an adoptable standard?"

I enquired, but soon realised that was not an option due to cost. We're going for a hole patching barbecue this summer. All welome. That should put off the evil day for a couple of years.

[Stanley]

When I was a lad I lived on a new development in Stockport where the builder went bank before the roads were surfaced. This was in 1936 and due to the war it wasn't until the 1950s that it was paved. I have an idea all the houses had to contribute and then the council adopted once it was up to standard. There were some quite enormous potholes! Some big enough to sail model boats on.

[David Whipp]

Bracewell Street at its junction with Edmondson Street. Another example of a rough surface where pedestrians cross.

Roads on unfinished developments can take years to sort out; Longfield Court is a (relatively) recent example where a downturn in the market left it half built - and half surfaced.

[David Whipp]

Park Road - near Park Hill.

[Stanley]

Keep at 'em. (Mind you, it won't be long before the Tories are claiming they got them repaired......)

[David Whipp]

Skipton Road in front of Holy Trinity. I didn't have my camera with me when I first spotted this, here it is after a quick 'repair'.

[Stanley]

Useless!

[David Whipp]

Ann old reinstatement on Gisburn Street, at the junction with Gisburn Road.

[David Whipp]

Rainhall Road/Long Ing near junction of Valley Road; similar one posted before - still not repaired.

[David Whipp]

I had a meeting with highway managers at county hall yesterday where I highlighted the issue of inadequate or non-existent repairs.

They asked me for details...

After I'd emailed chapter and verse about five examples this morning, I got a call from one of the managers asking me not to send them any more.

[Stanley]

They don't like detail.... If you'd printed it out and sent it by registered post the department would have gone into melt-down. Bureaucrats hate anything that has a cast iron audit trail! Keep at 'em!

[David Whipp]

I don't know if it was the meeting on Wednesday, or yesterday's email, but the broken up carriageway from Essex Street down to Valley Road has been marked up with white paint.

Best not get too excited; markings have been painted round the potholes for the last two years without anything major happening.

[David Whipp]

Here's an example of the markings put down on Rainhall Road.

I've noticed this morning that the area of cracked surface on Skipton Road between Lower North and Lower West Avenue, where several 'interim' repairs have been carried out, has been marked up for proper permanent patching.

[Stanley]

There should be no such thing as 'permanent patching', it's sloppy thinking. It should be called reinstatement.

[David Whipp]

Ellis Street being repaired this morning.

The repair has been cut out properly and sealed round the edges.

The guys doing the job said the old style sealant wasn't used now because it takes longer to set. Drivers had claimed against the county council for damaged paintwork when tyres had flicked the material onto their cars.

(I don't know what the gang thought of me wanting to take pictures of them doing the job...)

[PanBiker]

I noticed the repair on St James Square has the edges sealed with neat bitumen which is not apparent on the other so called "patches". Did they have a bit of the sealant left when they did that one or did we drop luck and actually get someone who knows how to do the job properly? I was bit gobsmacked when I saw it for the first time!

[Stanley]

The most durable repairs are done with hot tarmac and sealant. As far as I know all these are done with cold mix.

[David Whipp]

One of the concerns I raised at county hall was about the bodge jobs and how it appears that some repairs are done properly whilst others nearby just have some bitmac chucked in them.

I was told that the county council's 'operations' teams are instructed to carry out permanent repairs where possible. The occasions when 'interim repairs' might be carried out include when they would need traffic management (eg traffic lights) in place to allow them to work in the carriageway, or if a complete road closure was needed for the work.

I pointed out that the 'interim repairs' often became the permanent solution and provided several examples of potholes which were given 'interim repairs' for no apparent reason.

[Stanley]

Good man! I get the feeling that it is a box ticking exercise and a bad repair ticks faster than a proper one. (And costs more in the long run)

[David Whipp]

That's certainly the case with Kirkstall Drive. Me and colleagues have been chunnering about it's condition for several years... there are more patches on it than a patchwork quilt. But the binder in the surface has had it. Now, it's about to get a full resurfacing job. Add in the cost of all the 'interim repairs' and it's cost a lot more than if the resurfacing had been done when it first started to be a problem four or five years ago.