How to get a pothole fixed in Lincolnshire
Potholes are a proper pain for road-users, damaging cars and putting cyclists at risk of coming a cropper.
Each year, about 55,000 potholes are plugged in Lincolnshire alone, with several teams responding to a priority list of places where new surface is needed.
Sometimes this means a full resurfacing job, which can involve advertising a road closure for a number of weeks.
But many of the holes measure only a few centimetres across and are in relatively quiet roads, and so these are filled individually and without a road closure by gangers and operatives, such as Mark Atkin and Lorenzo Parla.
Employees of Balfour Beatty, which holds a six-year contract with Lincolnshire County Council, they fix cul-de-sacs and closes, right up to busy A-roads.
According to Mark, they can fill up to 20 holes a day, each taking about 25 to 30 minutes, and there is great satisfaction to be had in seeing a previously pitted road smoothed over.
Lorenzo, a former personal trainer and lifeguard who joined the Balfour Beatty team 10 months ago, is similarly keen on the work, which sees him travel all over the county.
Having joined them in Wellington Way, Market Deeping, we were faced with three craters, each under a metre in size, yet deep enough to give a car a good clunk.
A residential area without too much through-traffic, and with a detour available along Blenheim Way, this was a job the wouldn’t need a road closure - although the health and safety warnings included keeping an eye out for cars.
Having checked for underground cables, one of the first tasks - and one for Mark and Lorenzo's skills - was to carve straight lines into the asphalt around the pothole using a petrol-driven cut-off saw.
We’ve all become a bit more used to wearing PPE thanks to the pandemic, but this task involved triple protection - ear-defenders, dust mask and goggles - to keep flying bits and noise in check.
Lorenzo was also tasked with pumping water over the spinning blade to keep dust to a minimum, and when the hand-pump lost its oomph due to a dodgy seal, he soon improvised with a watering can.
The next step was to 'break out' the asphalt inside the straight lines, using an implement of dentistry nightmares, and then any remaining crumbs were swept from the hole.
At this point the heavy machines were set aside and I was given the task of spraying a bitumen tack coat into the newly enlarged hole.
Resembling underarm deodorant for Goliath, the substance in the foot-long spray can helps new Tarmac to stick to an old surface.
With this done, it was time to unveil a mound of hot Tarmac on the back of the flat-bed truck.
A supply of steaming Tarmac is delivered to the Lincolnshire County Council depot every other day, and that which isn’t used for today's jobs is stored in a ‘hotbox’ for tomorrow's.
A few heaped shovelfuls were deposited into the pothole before being smoothed over with a rake, then flattened using a mechanical wacker plate that was mown up and down as if it were a small lawn.
A splash of cold water and the smooth, black square was ready for its finishing touches - a bitumen overband laid over the joins and melted in place with a blowtorch.
We then stood back in unison to admire our handiwork - only for a car to drive straight over it, taking a metre of the still-warm tape with its tyres.
“Never mind” was the expert reaction. They’ve seen this happen plenty of times before, and swiftly laid a new piece, which did have the chance to adhere.
While most motorists encountered are grateful for their efforts to patch up the roads, Mark and Lorenzo do receive an earful from time to time - mainly from impatient drivers who find their route a little trickier, and somewhat stickier, than normal.
But the contractors take this in their stride and remain upbeat in the face of a to-do list that gains potholes as quickly as they check them off.
After repeating the process for the two remaining potholes earmarked in Wellington Way, the team moved on.
Perhaps they now are in a street near you.
How to get a pothole fixed
If you spot a pothole that might be causing grief then it can be reported to any local authority using the 'Fix My Street' website.
You will be asked for the location and for details of the problem - broken street lights and graffiti can also be reported using the site.
The problem will be inspected, and what the council intends to do reported back to you.
The A1, and the A47 east of Wansford, are under National Highways management, and so won't be fixed by any local authority.