Potholes, potholes, potholes, launch ramp?

wolfsbane2k

Hi.

I've been 'enjoying' spending the evenings reporting potholes to my local council, and generally they have been very good in repairing them within a few months.

However, they have managed to fek one up so badly that they have raised the surface of the road by what feels like a 5 cm ramp over about 20 cm across the entire carriageway, where you wouldn't expect it, and hitting it at 30mph means that I actually 'take off'.

I'm going to report it as a sh1t, unsafe repair, but I'm wondering if anyone has any knowldegde on what constitutes an 'acceptable road surface' in terms of flatness etc.

Cheers.

Sutton_Rider

I used to work for a County Council Highways Inspection Dept. There was no 'acceptable road surface' in terms of flatness as you put it. However it should be reasonably flat and not as you describe it. Most Councils regard 40mm or deeper as being at intervention level for potholes on the highway and 20mm or deeper for the footpath.

wolfsbane2k

Cheers, that's useful info.

I've got a large ruler with me today as I intended to check the actual levels to add to the report.

shimanobottombracket

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Cheers, that's useful info.

I've got a large ruler with me today as I intended to check the actual levels to add to the report.

That ruler must conform to BS/EU3721 policy of the weights and measures act. You must also have an EU or BS approved high visibility jacket, appropriate size hard hat and hold a RWSC (road workers safety certificate) card to perform any sort of maintenance or analysis on a public highway. In addition to this, you will legally be required to put in place adequate signage and traffic flow management. The rules of the latter will differ between motorways and non motorways as polar bear attack statistics differ between these road types.

wolfsbane2k

ShimanoBottomBracket wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Cheers, that's useful info.

I've got a large ruler with me today as I intended to check the actual levels to add to the report.

That ruler must conform to BS/EU3721 policy of the weights and measures act. You must also have an EU or BS approved high visibility jacket, appropriate size hard hat and hold a RWSC (road workers safety certificate) card to perform any sort of maintenance or analysis on a public highway. In addition to this, you will legally be required to put in place adequate signage and traffic flow management. The rules of the latter will differ between motorways and non motorways as polar bear attack statistics differ between these road types.

Ah, Thursday. Definitely less polar bear attacks on a Thursday from the latest statistics I've seen, however it is countered by the statistical weighting of increased bear attacks in april, so it's probably about on par for the average bear attack risk day over the entire year.
(did you start seriously and realise you weren't at work )
It was more a "straight and level edge against the road surface" picture to show the offset type thing to put it in context for a desk driver, rather then the measurements in detail

debeli

I'm a lifelong cyclist in his comfortable fifties and I confess I have never had an issue with potholes.

I do not consider it a right to be able to drive a car or ride a bicycle or motorcycle along un-potholed tarmac. I do enjoy smooth blacktop when I find it, but I can't get too excited about its absence.

Similarly, mud from tractor tyres and cuttings from hedging do not peeve me.

I've had a few rims and spokes bished over the years by damaged tarmac surfaces - and once faced some costly repairs to the front suspension of an Econobox Hatchback 1.2 deluxe I walloped into a chasm in the road.

But there is more to life than getting self-important about it all. I (usually) ride on 700c x 23 tyres at 110psi, so it is not as if I am somehow cushioned from the jarring. I just sort of get on with it and avoid the holes where I can.

Roads seem to have got no better or worse across my adult life, but moaning about them has increased hugely with the boom in cycling this past decade. Get bigger, softer tyres.

jgsi

Debeli wrote:

I'm a lifelong cyclist in his comfortable fifties and I confess I have never had an issue with potholes.

I do not consider it a right to be able to drive a car or ride a bicycle or motorcycle along un-potholed tarmac. I do enjoy smooth blacktop when I find it, but I can't get too excited about its absence.

Similarly, mud from tractor tyres and cuttings from hedging do not peeve me.

I've had a few rims and spokes bished over the years by damaged tarmac surfaces - and once faced some costly repairs to the front suspension of an Econobox Hatchback 1.2 deluxe I walloped into a chasm in the road.

But there is more to life than getting self-important about it all. I (usually) ride on 700c x 23 tyres at 110psi, so it is not as if I am somehow cushioned from the jarring. I just sort of get on with it and avoid the holes where I can.

Roads seem to have got no better or worse across my adult life, but moaning about them has increased hugely with the boom in cycling this past decade. Get bigger, softer tyres.

He is entitled to that opinion.
He pays his Council Tax no doubt and can expect his local roads to be fit for purpose.
I am a comfortable commuter and weekend racer in his 60s and I'm pissed off with every Friday bodging my communter to face another week of torture.. over every bad trench etc etc .. you know the feckn stuff you cant avoid.
I'm going the short way to mates for tonights chain gang... I go over a 4 INCH drop from one part of the road to the next , but at least I can bunny hop that with half decent bike ... not so on the communter over 30lb s worth.

wolfsbane2k

In my opinion, id rather have the holes fixed when it's small and manageable, rather than big and means a huge surfacing work at huge costs.
A small pothole can quickly develop into a large dangerous mess if left unchecked and unfixed.
I'd rather have my council spend the small money they have in an efficient way: and by reporting it I'm helping them do that.
And I'd rather they spend £300 repairing a pothole, than £3000 paying to fix damage caused by the pothole, and then still have to fix the pothole.

Just my opinion though.

sungod

Debeli wrote:

...Roads seem to have got no better or worse across my adult life, but moaning about them has increased hugely with the boom in cycling this past decade. ...

that may be the case where you live, but many of the roads i use have deteriorated badly over the last five years

sunken/broken ironwork, collapsed edges near drains, potholes that begin as a damaged bit of tarmac and in days progress to pits that can swallow a car wheel; plus the longitudinal fissures that develop when the sealing fails between different areas, if the front wheel drops in one you've only a moment to hop it out before the sidewall fails or maybe you hit the ground

it's not 'moaning', people have been seriously injured and that'll keep getting worse as the situation is way beyond what the available funding can rectify