JCB has signed its first deal for the firm’s new pothole fixer with a council which helped develop the machine.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has invested in the PotholePro machine, which JCB said repairs potholes four times quicker than standard methods. Potholes can be repaired in under eight minutes and, according to JCB, at ‘half the cost’ of current solutions.
JCB director Paul Murray said, “We’re absolutely delighted to see Stoke-on-Trent City Council become the first authority in the UK to invest in the machine. The council has been involved right from the very early stages of its creation. The team has worked with us throughout the development process and also took part in trials last year. They’ve clearly seen the benefits and believe in the machine which as manufacturers is great news.”
Between now and the end of June, a fleet of PotholePros are being demonstrated to potential customers across the whole of the UK and Ireland.
The machine’s development has been personally led by JCB chairman Lord Bamford. He said, “Potholes really are the scourge of our nation. Our country is quite rightly fixated on this dreadful problem and as a British manufacturer I am fixated on finding a solution. We simply cannot allow our road network to continue to be blighted by potholes. JCB’s solution is simple and cost effective and fixes potholes permanently, first time.”
The PotholePro allows a contractor or local authority to cut the road defect, crop the edges and clean the hole with one machine. The product features a 600mm wide planer and integrated dust suppression system, enabling the operator to plane a full carriageway from the kerb, without repositioning. The machine also comes with a sweeper/bucket and hydraulic cropping tool, allowing a ‘uniform’ hole to be prepared from the cab.
