We are all aware of the ongoing problem with many British highways. More than £730m each year is spent trying to recover from the problem motorists face each time they drive their car away from their house, it’s estimated that 1 in 10 mechanical faults are caused because of this problem.
You have probably guessed it by now. That’s correct. British potholes. There are many factors that surround this ever-lasting issue; this article outlines such problems and what we as a country plan to do to resolve it.
Vehicle suspension failure and axel fault are the two main areas that suffer from potholes costing British motorists on average £2.8bn each year, which then costs authorities around £30m in compensation charges, all in all the pothole issue is a costly one and something clearly has to be done.
The pothole problem goes back a long way, historically it is due to a lack in highways maintenance funding. Currently if authorities were to be given the budget needed to catch up on highways maintenance in Britain, it could take them up to 12 years to be on par with the backlog. Luckily for road users there is an answer to the problem, the Pothole Fund.
By March 2015 around three million potholes will be fixed. £168m will be split between 148 different councils, with additional funding allocated to councils that ‘demonstrate best practice in highways’.
One demonstration of best practice in highways is the investment in new technology and initiatives. This has been displayed in systems that have been set up to track pothole repair in real time, and has also been shown in pothole repairing equipment that can double up to grit icy roads in winter.
As the name suggests the government fund is for potholes only, that’s fixing of existing potholes and ensuring that new potholes don’t appear on roads in the first place. This has to be monitored by each council and published in monthly updates detailing how the maintenance was carried out.
This is one of the biggest investments in Britain’s roads since the 1970’s. Within the Budget in March 2014 another £24bn has been allocated and will be spent on the road network itself.
In Sheffield the council have recently appointed service provider Amey, who are the preferred supplier for a £2bn project that is focused around highways. The works to be carried out are extensive and cover all aspects of highway maintenance. Areas include retaining walls and trees, improving the road itself, repairing and implementing traffic signals, and building surveying & maintaining bridges.
The renovation project is set to last five years and is going to give huge benefits to local employment and suppliers, Amey will work towards keeping this project within budget and on time proving they are the right choice for the 25 year contract they have entered.
Employment in the North of England already benefits from Amey, they currently employ over 1000 people in the region. Amey have been in Sheffield for the past 25 years and plan to expand their offices in the city to bring in more expertise in highway technology and design. They also promise to create 30 apprentice and graduate placements and where possible use Sheffield businesses as their supply chain partners.
The road infrastructure in Britain was ranked 28th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report. Almost 90% of UK businesses surveyed in 2008 reported that the poor reliability of the road network was having an impact on their productivity.
The investment in Britain’s roads will give highway sustainability a boost during the next decade, with the introduction of more economic transport and the better structuring of Britain’s highways we can look forward to having roads that are up to standard with other European cities.
You have probably guessed it by now. That’s correct. British potholes. There are many factors that surround this ever-lasting issue; this article outlines such problems and what we as a country plan to do to resolve it.
Vehicle suspension failure and axel fault are the two main areas that suffer from potholes costing British motorists on average £2.8bn each year, which then costs authorities around £30m in compensation charges, all in all the pothole issue is a costly one and something clearly has to be done.
The pothole problem goes back a long way, historically it is due to a lack in highways maintenance funding. Currently if authorities were to be given the budget needed to catch up on highways maintenance in Britain, it could take them up to 12 years to be on par with the backlog. Luckily for road users there is an answer to the problem, the Pothole Fund.
By March 2015 around three million potholes will be fixed. £168m will be split between 148 different councils, with additional funding allocated to councils that ‘demonstrate best practice in highways’.
One demonstration of best practice in highways is the investment in new technology and initiatives. This has been displayed in systems that have been set up to track pothole repair in real time, and has also been shown in pothole repairing equipment that can double up to grit icy roads in winter.
As the name suggests the government fund is for potholes only, that’s fixing of existing potholes and ensuring that new potholes don’t appear on roads in the first place. This has to be monitored by each council and published in monthly updates detailing how the maintenance was carried out.
This is one of the biggest investments in Britain’s roads since the 1970’s. Within the Budget in March 2014 another £24bn has been allocated and will be spent on the road network itself.
In Sheffield the council have recently appointed service provider Amey, who are the preferred supplier for a £2bn project that is focused around highways. The works to be carried out are extensive and cover all aspects of highway maintenance. Areas include retaining walls and trees, improving the road itself, repairing and implementing traffic signals, and building surveying & maintaining bridges.
The renovation project is set to last five years and is going to give huge benefits to local employment and suppliers, Amey will work towards keeping this project within budget and on time proving they are the right choice for the 25 year contract they have entered.
Employment in the North of England already benefits from Amey, they currently employ over 1000 people in the region. Amey have been in Sheffield for the past 25 years and plan to expand their offices in the city to bring in more expertise in highway technology and design. They also promise to create 30 apprentice and graduate placements and where possible use Sheffield businesses as their supply chain partners.
The road infrastructure in Britain was ranked 28th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report. Almost 90% of UK businesses surveyed in 2008 reported that the poor reliability of the road network was having an impact on their productivity.
The investment in Britain’s roads will give highway sustainability a boost during the next decade, with the introduction of more economic transport and the better structuring of Britain’s highways we can look forward to having roads that are up to standard with other European cities.