Pothole repair automation

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al_yrpal
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Pothole repair automation

Post by al_yrpal »

Cycling my usual fitness route this morning I came upon the wonderful automated pothole mender. I cycled around my 11 mile route and all the potholes had been fixed. There must have been well over 100.

The machine has a nozzle on a moveable boom projecting from the front of what appears to be a normal lorry. First the boom sprays what appears to be hot steam into the hole. Then the steam continues accompanied by tarred grit which fills the hole and the boom is moved around to feather off the edges. Finally the lorrys heavy wide rear wheels go back and forth over the tarred area to compact the tarred grit. Then its off to the next hole.

I saw this machine about 4 years ago on the same lane. All the repairs it made are still perfect whilst those done more recently by two blokes with a shovel have all reopened.

I had a word with the driver and he said the rig was hired but Oxfordshire County Council have one on order. They could do with half a dozen!

https://youtu.be/6XRaONuQO7Q

Copy this video to your MP and the highways dept. Spreadsheet Phil has been exhorting us to improve productivity, this machine is just the ticket to do that in spades.


Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Cyril Haearn
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Re: A positive thread

Post by Cyril Haearn »

You have seen the future and it works :D
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reohn2
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Re: A positive thread

Post by reohn2 »

I saw one of these machines working about five years ago on a Cheshire lane and have agree they do a fairly good job,much better than the two men and a whacker plate efforts that don't last.
I can't think why their use isn't more widespread(sorry)
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Cyril Haearn
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Re: A positive thread

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Might be worth checking a few weeks or months later, how do the repairs last?
For some jobs no machine can be as good as a craftsman
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reohn2
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Re: A positive thread

Post by reohn2 »

Cyril Haearn wrote:Might be worth checking a few weeks or months later, how do the repairs last?
For some jobs no machine can be as good as a craftsman

I think the one's that were filled in have lasted quite well,and whilst I agree about craftsmen,the problem is everything is driven by cost and not quality.
There's a 90 deg corner on a country lane close to where I live that was in a diabolical state.It was "repaired" by the two men and a whacker plate method about five or six times over a period of 12 to 18 months before the penny dropped that the whole corner and roughly 10 m either side was scabbled off and repaired properly with a decent team and a heavy roller.
It must have cost as much to keep patching it up as it did doing the job properly in the first place.
It's false economy brought about by limited council budgets IMO.

EDUIT,some of the country lanes in Lancs and Chechire are in a terrible state of repair,pothole that I have to dodg around in my car let alone on the bike,what concerns me most is if this is what they're like now what will they be like with another 5 years of austerity as councils have to concentrate their budgets on more important issues such a social care etc,etc.
Last edited by reohn2 on 28 Nov 2017, 2:38pm, edited 1 time in total.
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al_yrpal
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Re: A positive thread

Post by al_yrpal »

Cyril Haearn wrote:Might be worth checking a few weeks or months later, how do the repairs last?
For some jobs no machine can be as good as a craftsman


As I mentioned I saw a similar machine on the same lane 4 years ago. ALL the patches it did are still perfect.

Al
Last edited by al_yrpal on 28 Nov 2017, 2:45pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
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al_yrpal
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Re: A positive thread

Post by al_yrpal »

reohn2 wrote:It's false economy brought about by limited council budgets IMO.


And blinkered thinking, poor contract practice and generalised local authority incompetence no doubt.

I was pleased to see the machine had been made in Britain.


Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Cyril Haearn
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Re: A positive thread

Post by Cyril Haearn »

al_yrpal wrote:
reohn2 wrote:It's false economy brought about by limited council budgets IMO.


And blinkered thinking, poor contract practice and generalised local authority incompetence no doubt.

I was pleased to see the machine had been made in Britain.


Al


+1 not made in Germany for once

No irony: I think it is great if machines replaces people for such jobs
So when Corbyn gets in he could introduce the four day working week as standard
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reohn2
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Re: A positive thread

Post by reohn2 »

al_yrpal wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:Might be worth checking a few weeks or months later, how do the repairs last?
For some jobs no machine can be as good as a craftsman


As I mentioned I saw a similsr machine on the same lane 4 years ago. ALL the patches it did are still perfect.

Al

I agree they do a good job,but I'm now seeing some roads that resemble a patchwork quilt,sometimes 300 to 400m stretches that should have been resurfaced yonks ago.
As an aside but very relevant drainage is practically a forgotten art on most Lancs lanes,yesterday up around Dunsop Bridge and Scorton area I was driving from one paddling pool to another of standing water, it froze overnight which doesnt do already bad and cracked up tarmac any good.
Last edited by reohn2 on 28 Nov 2017, 2:54pm, edited 1 time in total.
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reohn2
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Re: A positive thread

Post by reohn2 »

al_yrpal wrote:
reohn2 wrote:It's false economy brought about by limited council budgets IMO.


And blinkered thinking, poor contract practice and generalised local authority incompetence no doubt.

Or maybe underfunded robbing Peter to pay Paul situation,I really dont know.What I do know is that generally the roads are deteriorating at an alarming rate and will take a lot of work getting back to an acceptable standard.

I was pleased to see the machine had been made in Britain.


Al

The one I saw had an Irish reg plate :shock: ,though I didn't know where it was made but it was very similar to thenone in the linked video.
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old_windbag
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Re: A positive thread

Post by old_windbag »

Heres a "streetview" of the NCN1 route. This is used by tourist coaches to access a long stay car park. You can traverse along online this and see what is acceptable as a major cycle route( the land is Duke of Northumberlands I believe ). The potholes which have strewn their gravel everywhere are typically 3-6 inches deep and once rain filled you have no idea of what you are dropping into. I always advise tourists to be very aware of the poor state and take care. The choice is a 60mph road with blind bends to cut that section out. :( .

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.3536775,-1.6073152,3a,75y,180h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1seRizz2X1KMIb-nZWwSO9xQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
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al_yrpal
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Post by al_yrpal »

What do you mean?
ALL roads around here look like a patchwork quilt?
On a rainy day you cant walk down the village main street without getting soaked by passing traffic because there are massive puddles all the way along it. Its part of the reason that there are so many SUVs here.

I live in what I call Puddletown, South Potholeshire. Raised a good few wry laughs in the local paper and village magazine.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Richard Fairhurst
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Re: Pothole repair automation

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

al_yrpal wrote:I had a word with the driver and he said the rig was hired but Oxfordshire County Council have one on order. They could do with half a dozen!


I think OCC call it a "Dragon". Don't monopolise it in your half of the county, we could do with it up here in the Cotswolds too. :)

(Though we did have a couple of minor lanes beautifully resurfaced a few years ago. Coincidentally they were the roads that led from David Cameron's house to the main road...)
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Grandad
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Re: Pothole repair automation

Post by Grandad »

Last year I met a similar machine working on a lane jn Kent. So far the repairs have held out.
Roadster
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Re: Pothole repair automation

Post by Roadster »

The roads in East Lancashire are indeed in a disgraceful state of disrepair, the responsibility of the County Council based in Preston. Here on the border with West Yorkshire, we're a long way from there and out-of-sight appears to mean out-of-mind. One at least of those machines is desperately needed yesterday and would be usefully employed until it wore out, such is the shameful level of neglect now evident.
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