A new machine could help fix Wiltshire potholes more efficiently, and with longer-lasting results.
That’s the claim from Wiltshire councillor Dr Brian Matthew who is proposing the £200,000 Pothole Pro machine be used by the authority to fix the county’s roads.
It follows other calls from elected members to tackle poor road surfaces in ‘neglected’ areas of Wiltshire.
Construction equipment manufacturer JCB makes the machine and it works by cutting potholes and the surrounding cracked surface out of the road with a drill. Then a brush spins around and sweeps the debris into a bucket and the pothole is then filled. The company claims it can do the job in just eight minutes.
Cllr Matthew said at the environment select committee meeting of Wiltshire Council last month that the machine, or others like it, could be the solution.
He said, “What it seems to offer us is a quicker way of dealing with potholes and also a more permanent way of dealing with them because we’ve all seen potholes that have been repaired and then within weeks the repair has popped out. I would like to suggest this alternative is looked into.”
The leader of Wiltshire Council Richard Clewer said in response to the concerns at the meeting, “We are looking at making effective use right now of the extra £3.6 million the government gave us specifically for potholes.”
A video of the machine can be seen on the company’s website here: https://shorturl.at/ghqsE
