Posted on Thursday 27th July 2023
Staffordshire County Council’s brand-new Pothole Pro has clocked on for its first shift – on the doorstep of the JCB factory where it was produced.
The machine was manufactured at JCB Heavy Products in Beamhurst, Uttoxeter, right next to the A522 Uttoxeter Road where the authority is undertaking major road improvements.
The works include the resurfacing the roundabout outside the JCB’s factory - with the JCB Pothole Pro playing a pivotal role.
The machine is helping with this work by planing the road next to kerb drains and around ironwork, and will also be planing out some of the existing potholes on the roundabout that have been temporarily filled.
The works are part of a larger £300,000 scheme at the A522 Uttoxeter Road, which started on 12 June and will take 10 weeks to complete.
Road closures have been in place to allow the roundabout work to be completed, coinciding with JCB’s shutdown to ensure the least disruption possible.
David Williams, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport at Staffordshire County Council said:
“I cannot think of a more fitting first job for the Pothole Pro than helping to improve the roundabout outside the factory in which it was built. The Pothole Pro’s mission is to fix Britain’s roads, and it will certainly help us when it comes to road improvements, not just here but across the whole of Staffordshire. It also showcases our investment in new technologies to help make our highways repairs more efficient, and further cements our partnership with JCB.
“Good roads are important for residents, motorists and the economy. With the school summer holidays making the roads quieter at this time of year, we can get out to repair more defects and complete larger schemes while keeping disruption to a minimum, making good on our £30 million investment into larger repairs and road resurfacing over the next two years.”
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 5,000m2 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.
Ben Rawding, JCB General Manager for Government and Municipalities said:
“We are passionate about helping to fix Britain’s roads and there is no better place to start than right on the doorstep of where the Pothole Pro was manufactured in Staffordshire.
“The Pothole Pro is the UK’s number one solution for pothole repairs and it is transforming the way local authorities are fixing roads. We are delighted that Staffordshire County Council has invested in the machine and we look forward to seeing the great results it will achieve.”