Who is to blame for potholes in 1066 country?

From: Michael Hennessey, Mill Rise, Robertsbridge
Pothole in Byfleets Lane. Pic Steve Robards SR20020701 SUS-200702-132244001Pothole in Byfleets Lane. Pic Steve Robards SR20020701 SUS-200702-132244001
Pothole in Byfleets Lane. Pic Steve Robards SR20020701 SUS-200702-132244001

Who is to blame and why are there so many pot holes and large surface cracks on our roads? The article makes reference to Cllr Claire Dowling as being lead member for transport in East Sussex.

Cllr Dowling seems to blame the current situation on unprecedented levels of rain fall. Quite true, we have had record breaking rain fall over the past few months and water seeping through the top layer of tarmacadam has washed and worn away the base layers thus leaving the whole area to collapse under the continual weight of traffic. But hold on, these holes were there last year, and the year before!

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Cllr Godfrey Daniel mentions the workmanship by well-paid contractors who come along, shovel in a bit of tarmac filler, pat it down and move on to the next hole. Within two days, wouldn’t you know it, that soft tarmac has gone and the hole is still there.

That leads onto the subject of highway maintenance. Sorry, that last word is made up, there is no maintenance. All roads are built with a surface water drainage system, usually on both sides.

Road gullies are positioned at strategic points along the edge to collect the surface water into the below ground drainage system. In Robertsbridge there are numerous road gullies built into the highway system as the village is built on a hill and receives a considerable amount of surface water runoff.

The problem is that a large proportion of these road gullies are either partially or completely blocked with leaves, twigs and sediment which makes them useless at doing their job of collecting surface water.

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In addition, the interconnecting below ground drainage system is also blocked leading to the obvious, surface water staying on the surface and wearing away the top dressing leading to pot holes and the breaking up of the highway.

I live in Robertsbridge and as I write this there are enormous pot holes in Station Road and Brightling Road. Not only large in area, but also in depth. These holes were ‘repaired’ in 2019, but to a standard as described above.

I actually witnessed the operation of one of the highway stewards marking out the holes with his white line marker. The white lines were worn away before the repair contractor turned up some months later. The holes are still there.