Battle of the pothole repair machines

Gloucestershire County Council is testing four machines to find out which is best

Four pothole filling machines are going head-to-head as a council tries to judge which one is the most efficient before purchasing one.

Gloucestershire County Council has completed trials on the JCB Pothole Pro, and the Spray Injection Patching machine in recent weeks.

The final trial will see two more machines, the Roadmender and the Bobcat, race to fill potholes in Fairford later.

Cabinet Member for Highways and Flooding Dom Morris said: "We’re using all the latest tools available to create better journeys for Gloucestershire’s residents.”

Council officials will also assess which machines produce the best quality repairs, by monitoring the routes over several months.

The competitors

The Roadmender heats recycled material which is spread across damaged patches of the road surface, creating a watertight seal

The JCB Pothole Pro cuts, crops and cleans patches, enabling an average pothole to be fixed in just eight minutes

The Bobcat cuts away damaged sections of the road and prepares a neat surface for new asphalt

The Spray Injection Patching machine moves along a road firing air at high speed into potholes to clear them out before aggregate is coated in bitumen and applied

Council leaders hope that by purchasing new specialist machines, they will be able to fill in smaller potholes before they develop.

In practice, this will likely mean teams carrying out minor works on a road while deployed to fix a big pothole nearby.

Mr Morris added: “I’m pleased to see new machines on our roads this summer, and I’m delighted we are rolling out a proactive approach to fix more potholes in the first visit, before they develop into safety hazards."