Gone to pot-hole - Roadmender trial extended

To coincide with National Pothole Day on January 15, Derbyshire County Council (DCC) has announced an extension to a pothole repair trial.

The experimental scheme used Roadmender Asphalt – a new material partially made from recycled HGV tyres – to fix damaged roads across the county. 

Engineers pour the asphalt as a molten liquid straight into potholes, which in theory means that there is no waste, digging out, or edge sealing that comes from traditional repairs. 

“The Roadmender material has been used in a variety of different sizes of patches in lots of different places, including busy junctions with lots of HGV traffic, residential streets and roundabouts,” said a spokesperson from DCC. 

“It has also been used on a couple of sites that are to be fully resurfaced in the near future as part of testing and evaluation of how and where it works best.  

“The material is working and lasting well so far, even with the winter weather. It’s also tackling some pothole hotspots as well as preventing areas that were starting to experience cracking damage.” 

Cllr Charlotte Cupit, DCC’s Transport lead said: “Over the last few months, we’ve used Roadmender on over 60 streets right across the county, from Alfreton to Buxton, Staveley to Swadlincote – and many more! 

“So far the results are promising and we’ve had lots of positive feedback. So, we’ve made the decision to extend the trial over the next few months too, particularly as we can use it in most weathers. 

“It can also mean lots less disruption to the public where we need to quickly carry out works on busy junctions or roads as it sets so quickly and doesn’t need digging out. 

“We’re then looking to permanently add this to our road repairs options – as well as continuing to try out other new technologies and materials to improve our roads. And, of course, doing as much resurfacing as we can.”