Andrew Griffith MP joined one of West Sussex County Council’s pothole gangs as they went out fixing potholes in Fittleworth on Friday afternoon (7th May).
The MP wanted to see for himself how the pothole repair work is identified, carried out and followed up with inspections. He was joined by Cllr Joy Dennis, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport at West Sussex County Council who help to arrange Andrew’s fact-finding visit.
Andrew saw one of the three Velocity machines contracted by West Sussex County Council. The Velocity machine is managed by a ‘pothole gang’ made up of the machine operators and a team who manage the rolling road closure barriers.
Andrew was keen to see just how the potholes are repaired and to quiz them on the longevity of the work carried out. As the MP pointed out, much of his inbox is filled with emails from residents complaining about potholes, especially on some of the more rural roads which connect villages to the main A roads.
The jet-patching process is carried out by a single machine. The Velocity patcher forces air at high speed into potholes to clear them out, then the area is coated with cold bitumen to create a perfect seal, before aggregate is coated in bitumen and applied, again at high speed. The process is quick and can be driven over straight away, allowing the rolling gang to move quickly onto the next one, minimising traffic disruption.
With around 4,000 kilometres of roads, West Sussex County Council has a considerable number of repairs to undertake, especially following the extended period of very wet weather which has led to the rapid deterioration of some roads. With the drier in recent weeks, this means that permanent repairs can be carried out. This is funded in part by the council, but also with a significant allocation of funding from the Department of Transport of more than £20 million, plus an additional £4.3 million from the Road Resurfacing Fund.
41,995 potholes were repaired by West Sussex County Council in the last full financial year.
Andrew Griffith MP said:
“We all know that we’ve had two of the wettest winters on record and that’s caused issues with potholes on the nation's roads.
Now the drier weather is here, I was glad to see the team at WSCC and their contractors out and about using the latest technology to fix thousands of potholes at pace. In addition to the significant amount West Sussex spend, it’s good the government have chipped extra money into the local pot from savings made from not going ahead with the over costly HS2 project.”
To report a West Sussex pothole, see www.westsussex.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/report-a-pothole-online/
