Winter weather has created hundreds more potholes across Kirklees.
Between January 28 and February 11, Kirklees Council workers repaired 1,100 potholes – many of them caused by the action of frost and ice.
During the same period, 1,700 potholes were reported by council safety inspectors or members of the public.
The council has been testing a machine called a MultiHog Patch Planer, which planes off the road surface to enable a squared-off hole to be filled by a following gang.
A Kirklees spokesperson said: “The council trialled a number of different methods for improving the repairs of potholes on their roads. The trial aimed to identify which method would repair potholes to the highest standard and was most long lasting.
“The council identified that of all the options trialled the MultiHog – a small planning machine – was best. The MultiHog is able to remove the damaged road surface from around the pothole as well as the actual hole that has formed. This means that the council is less likely to have to revisit the same area twice to fix potholes that have formed later in the surrounding road surface.
“The council is currently using two MultiHog mini planers and are continuing to test and evaluate their performance across Kirklees.
“The results of this extended evaluation will be used to inform the decision about the methods the council will use for repairing their roads in the future.”
The spokesperson said: “The recent winter weather has damaged the road surface, resulting in more new potholes at different locations on our roads. To make sure we repair there potholes as efficiently as possible the MultiHogs are being supported by five teams who are continuing to use the nationally approved hand repair process.
“Between January 28 and February 11 we repaired 1,100 potholes and we expect to continue repairing them at that rate or faster over the coming weeks.
“During this same period 1,700 potholes were reported by the council safety inspectors or member of the public.”
The update follows concerned voiced by the council’s Lib Dem councillors that government funding for potholes focuses too heavily on strategic roads rather than local roads.
Analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents 349 councils in England, has revealed the government is spending £1.1m per mile on ‘strategic roads’ over the next five years while local authorities will get just £21,000 a mile.
