Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has declared war on potholes with the introduction of a mechanised patching machine called a Jetpatcher.
The machine, which uses modern technology to fix potholes in less than 15 minutes, was put to the test by repairing potholes in different areas, including Rosslyn, Soshanguve South Extension 2, New Eersterus, Mangobo, Zwartkop, Eldoraigne and Wierdapark, as well as Garsfontein Road and Brakfontein Road in Highveld.
Mayoral spokesperson Sipho Stuurman reported that in one week the City has fixed over 4 000m² of potholes and road failures with the machinery.
The modern machine has for years been used in many countries globally, including South Africa.
A few years ago the Joburg Roads Agency introduced it to the metro in an effort to address the pothole backlogs.
It has been hailed for its efficiency in multitasking as compared to the conventional pothole-filling methods.
For example, its functions include cleaning and preparing the pothole before asphalt mix is sprayed into it for patching.
This week motorists driving on Garsfontein Road witnessed first-hand how the use of the machine can be time-saving as repairs disrupted traffic flow for less than 15 minutes.
Using a high-pressure air compressor, the machine first removes dust and debris from the pothole targeted for repair.
The process is followed by the machine operator spraying bitumen into the pothole at 100km an hour and at a temperature of 35 to 40°C for patching, and then subsequently compacting it.
Stuurman said the City wanted to accelerate its fight against potholes with deployment of the Jetpatcher machine.
“The City of Tshwane is turning the tide on fixing potholes along its municipal roads through the deployment of Jetpatcher technology that was commissioned.”
He said the machine has received positive feedback from councillors across different political lines and municipal teams on the ground, who have been hard at work repairing road defects.
Stuurman said: “To provide the financial backing needed to maintain our roads, the City set aside R154 million in its 2022/23 budget allocation for road maintenance. This represents a budget increase of about R17m from the previous financial year.”
Part of the allocation included reactive maintenance to the value of R62m, which looked to address potholes and road repairs.
“Road resurfacing has been allocated R7.5m to ensure that we keep our roads well maintained.,” he said.
MMC for Utility Services Daryl Johnston said: “We have used this as an intervention to attend to a significant number of serious potholes and this will allow us to free up internal teams which we can deploy to secondary roads.”
He said many potholes were developed due to the significant amount of rain during summer.
Pretoria News