County Council pothole repair trial to be extended after a successful start

Derbyshire County Council officials are to extend a trial of a new material to fix potholes after positive feedback and good results over the last few months.

Since the autumn, the council’s highways teams have been testing out a new pothole repair material - Roadmender Asphalt - at different sites across the county. 

The new material is partially made from old HGV tyres, which are recycled to create a more elastic product than traditional asphalt. It’s heated up on site in a boiler and then applied as a molten liquid directly onto the road surface, meaning there’s no waste, digging out or sealing of the edges required. This results in a faster repair and less disruption to the public with reduced road closure times.

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. 

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 so far 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. 

Councillor Charlotte Cupit, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highway Assets and Transport, said: “Over the last few months, we’ve used Roadmender on over 60 streets right across the county.

“So far the results are promising and we’ve had lots of positive feedback (including the most liked video of 2024 with the local media coverage of it!). 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.”