A pothole fixing machine would not be worth the cost as it would sit idle for much of West Lothian’s winter, councillors heard this week.
The Pothole Pro has been promoted by the opposition SNP group as the answer to the almost £2m problem of fixing the county’s roads.
But winter weather and staffing demands makes the £165,000 machine impracticable to use for much of the year, say Operational Services staff.
The device, built around a JCB earth mover platform, combines three machines in one and can repair a pothole in less than eight minutes – four times quicker than standard methods and at half the cost of current solutions.
Linlithgow Councillor Pauline Orr tabled a series of questions around the cost of pothole repair and use of the Pro machine at this week’s meeting of the full council.
She said: “I have been told by officers that this equipment would sit idle over the winter and poor weather periods. This is contrary to the feedback of other Scottish councils who use it all year round and who have made significant savings in terms of time and cost for this type of work. What evidence do you have to support this?”
Tom Conn, Labour’s Executive Councillor for the Environment, told the meeting that pothole patching is not effective at low temperatures, and the roads department has significant staffing and resource demands through the winter months.
The meeting heard that there had been 3,522 enquiries about potholes last year. There were 32 complaints about potholes in the same year.
Councillor Conn said that keeping roads and footways clear was the priority of roads staff throughout the winter months.
“Winter is not the most appropriate time to carry out such work as wind speed, road surface temperature and moisture affect bituminous materials. The ground should be dry as moisture can affect the bonds of materials.”
He added: “Over the previous five winters roads and transportation have averaged around 70 days of winter treatments per year This is around 65% of working days in winter dedicated to winter maintenance treatments.”
Other evidence suggested that the Pothole Pro would not be usable for 85% of the time during the winter months because of adverse weather conditions and staff demands.
He added: “Cost comparisons are more difficult to determine as they are not like for like.”
The objective of traditional methods is to improve the lifespan and condition and conditions of the roads. This varies greatly.
Scottish Borders Council drafted in two Pothole Pro machines last year to carry out road repairs to its roads citing cost savings compared to using traditional methods. The Pothole Pro costs around £165,000 to buy but can be hired for £600 a month.
Last year West Lothian spent £1.9m on road repairs.
Councillor Orr asked for all answers to be provided in writing adding: “I’m really deeply disappointed that councillor Conn did not supply these answers in writing.
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
