Infrared puts the heat on potholes

Devised by researchers at Brunel University London, the technology could save local authorities £3.5bn in 2019 by making repairs cheaper and longer-lasting.

“Potholes develop when surface water is pressurised by travelling vehicles, opening cracks within the asphalt,” said civil engineering researcher Juliana Byzyka. “Wet weather, combined with cycles of freezing and thawing, dramatically accelerates pothole development.”

Temporary and longer-lasting repairs often fail, creating dangerous driving conditions that put road users at risk and dent the public purse.

According to the Local Government Association, road repair bills in England and Wales could reach £14bn in two years, dwarfing councils’ £4.4bn highway budgets.

“Occasionally, road maintenance teams use commercially operated heaters to repair potholes, but many instead deliver hot material to the site for filling and compaction of the pothole,” said Byzyka. “We found that this leads to a higher risk of pothole failure due to inadequate heating at the interface between the pavement and fill material. A lack of temperature control deep within the mass also causes failures.”