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H I G H WAY S & I N F R A S T R U C T U R E
THE HOLE STORY
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hey are the scourge of motorists and represent a real danger to road users, but now JCB is arming contractors with a new weapon in the battle against potholes. Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s James Harper is an enthusiastic advocate for the concept and, since his local authority took delivery of the manufacturer’s Pothole Pro in July 2021, the unit has repaired 147 patches and counting in just 130 days, which represents an impressive total of 10,114 sq metres across the city in total. To put that into perspective, using traditional methods, it is estimated that the same amount of work would take at least 1,040 days. Based on the manufacturer’s Hydradig wheeled excavator, this three in one machine can cut, crop and clean, all from the comfort of
22 JANUARY / FEBRUARY I CPN
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is on the right road with the JCB Pothole Pro. Construction Plant News Editor, Lee Jones speaks to James Harper about the machine’s considerable benefits.
the cab. It combines a three-piece boom, Steelwrist tiltrotator, planer, brush, bucket and 400mm cropping tool. The unit delivers more than enough power to that 600mm planer to comfortably cut down to a maximum of 170mm, and the hydraulic depth adjustment means you can be assured it’s achieving the level set. It self-levels, regardless of the gradient, and can plane against the roadside kerb. Utilising the 1,200mm sweeper collector with dust suppression, material can then be easily gathered up and dumped into a waiting tipper truck. The built-in 400mm cropping tool then crops the patch where required, eliminating HAVS.
James reveals how the JCB Pothole Pro has transformed their working practices: “Previously we were breaking by hand, hiring in a backhoe with a ditching bucket, and using a mini excavator. Pneumatic hammers are brutal on the end user, and there will always be hand/arm vibration issues (HAVS). Not only that but the accuracy is just not there, which means you’re removing far more material than you need to, creating unnecessary waste and resulting in more aggregate being required, with increased vehicle movements to take the spoil away. The JCB Pothole Pro eliminates all of those issues and delivers a finish that is far superior to anything we’ve been able to produce previously. We can now be far more
