Highways chiefs to trial use of old tyres to repair potholes across Hertfordshire

HIGHWAYS chiefs are to trial the repair of pot-holes . . . with old tyres.

An estimated 40,000 pot-holes are due to be repaired across the county this year.

And now, in a report presented to the county council, executive member for highways and transport Cllr Phil Bibby has revealed the council is set to trial new methods.

That includes a jet-patcher to spray inject pot-holes, a trial of a ‘JCB Pothole Pro’ and the ‘Road Mender’.

It’s the Road Mender that uses old tyres to make the repair And in the report Cllr Bibby suggests it could be quicker and better for the environment.

“Road Mender takes end-of-life car tyres and uses them as part of a fast setting rubberised liquid,” he says.

“This liquid can be used to fill potholes without the need for saw-cutting or compaction on site, making the repair quick, and reducing the amount of carbon compared with current pothole repair methods.”

Meanwhile he reports that the JCB Pothole Pro has attachments so that it can plane the road surface, cut the edges straight, clean the area, and then fill the pothole.

And he says: “We expect that it will be particularly useful in large patch repairs.”

The report was included in a written report presented to councillors at a meeting of the county council on Tuesday (July 18).

It states that as a result of an allocation of £3.952m from the government’s pothole fund, there will be 20,000 additional pothole repairs this year – taking the expected total to 40,000.