Highways teams at Staffordshire County Council will soon be taking delivery of the latest addition to their fight against defects—the JCB Pothole Pro.
Fresh off the production line at the JCB Heavy Products factory in Uttoxeter, the Pothole Pro is set to be brought into commission by the county council’s highways teams.
Crews will also undertake training on the new machine, and it will get its first outing later this month when the council repairs a roundabout on the A522 outside the entrance to the JCB factory.
The JCB Pothole Pro machine is a unique 3-in-1 machine, designed to repair potholes in an average time of eight minutes without the need for additional specialist equipment or extra manpower.
The Pothole Pro can prepare up to 250m2 of roadway in a single shift, or 5,000m3 per month and allows local authorities to cut the defect, crop the edges and clean the hole with one machine before they are filled with bitumen – mechanising jobs traditionally done by pothole gangs and delivering up to a 50% cut in daily costs.
In Staffordshire, it will be mainly used for patching and larger pothole repairs.
Staffordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Commercial Mark Deaville said: “After being put through its paces last year in trials around the county, the Pothole Pro proved its mettle in a variety of different situations and will be seen out and about on Staffordshire’s roads in the coming months. This purchase further cements our long-standing, strong partnership between the county council and JCB.
“We are always looking for opportunities to trial new machinery so we can repair our roads as quickly and as effectively as possible, minimising the disruption to Staffordshire motorists. The Pothole Pro will be a great addition to our arsenal of machinery and, alongside our £30 million investment in Staffordshire’s highways over the next two years, will really make a difference to our roads.”
JCB Government and Municipalities General Manager Ben Rawding said: “We are delighted that Staffordshire County Council is joining a growing number of UK local authorities in purchasing a JCB Pothole Pro. As the number one solution for pothole repairs in the UK, this machine is making a real difference up and down the country, both in the quality of repairs and the speed at which they are completed.
“Supporting local authorities is key priority for JCB. This is a perfect example of the team providing tangible solution to a real challenge faced by councils and residents.
“As a Staffordshire company we are very proud that the county council will be deploying technology on our doorstep which has been developed in our home county. We will continue to support them with ongoing training to ensure the machine delivers the transformational results seen by many other local authorities.”
