The Highland Council is to purchase a specialised state of the art road repair vehicle in its bid to dramatically reduce the number of surface defects present on its road network.
The machine, which uses a spray injection patching process, can be operated by a single operator and can fill a pothole in about 5 minutes. It is considered to be the most efficient means currently available of repairing road defects at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. The vehicle, which is made to order, is expected to be delivered later this year.
In the intervening period Highland Council will be hiring two of these specialised machines for a period of 13 weeks over the summer to further reduce the backlog of road repairs. It is expected, subject to reasonable weather, that the use of these machines will have a significant impact on the number of potholes present on its road network.
The Highland Council manages and maintains 6,754km of roads, 1,700km of footways and 2,180 bridges and culverts.
Vice Chair of the Council's Community Services Committee, Councillor Richard Greene said: "Highland Council are very aware of the concerns raised with them by members of the public in regard to deteriorating road surfaces. The ruling Independent Administration have given these issues high priority and these machines, together with the new one on order, will assist tremendously in early repair action."
Wick Councillor Bill Fernie, Chairman of Resources Committee and Budget Leader said, "We know that roads are a high priority for people in Highland and that is why we went back and reversed cuts of the previous administration and added more capital spend over coming years. This allied with a plan to increase improvements with a Jet Patcher will begin to make a difference but it will take time. The Jet Patcher wil be in Caithness for 15 working days between 1st June and 21st June 2016."
Members of the public can report potholes or any other road issues online via the council's website by visiting http://www.highland.gov.uk/info/20005/roads_and_pavements/96/road_faults
