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Roads - potholes

Defects will arise on the highway, particularly as more traffic causes more wear and tear. The highway condition can also be damaged by accidents, misuse and the impact of severe weather in particular flooding, snow and ice.

When a defect is identified on an inspection or is otherwise reported to us, the type of maintenance required is assessed.

Potholes are the most commonly occurring defect on the highway. There are few reported that present an immediate hazard but those that are identified of this severity are made safe within 24 hours. Over the last four years we have seen the number of winter potholes steadily increase.

A pothole develops where the surface of the highway has failed. This allows the entry of water, disintegration and the removal of material by traffic at weakened spots on the surface. Eventually this causes a hollow, commonly referred to as a pothole, to appear in the highway surface.

Other common highway condition defects include:

Type of defect	Description
Surface texture failure	This is the loss of surfacing material. From an engineering point of view it may not mean that there is structural damage to the road, however, it can affect the serviceability e.g. riding quality and safety.
Deformation	This is any change of the road structure, which leaves the road surface in a shape different from the one intended. It may be due to load associated (traffic) or non-load associated (environmental) influences. This affects serviceability and may reflect structural inadequacies.
Cracking	Fractures in the road / pavement surface and underlying layers, ranging from isolated single cracks to a series of inter-connected cracks spreading over the entire road surface. They can lead to the road condition looking poor as well as a loss of waterproofing, load spreading ability and riding quality.