www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk


APRIL 2014


£12bn repair bill for Britain’s roads after record rainfall


The estimated cost to get the local road network in England and Wales back into reasonable condition has increased to £12 billion (from £10.5bn in 2013). That’s the standout fi gure from the 19th Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey which is commissioned by the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA).


For the second year in a row, more than two million potholes (2,010,749) were fi lled in England and Wales over the course of the previous year.


The damage caused by this winter’s record rainfall, however, is predicted to have counteracted much of that work, with highways departments anticipating worse road condition to come and the higher one-time catch-up cost of £12bn.


Authorities in England have been affected the worst, reporting this estimated one-time cost as 30 per cent higher than last year, at an average of £90 million per authority.


This forewarning comes despite a 20 per cent decrease in the shortfall in annual road maintenance budgets reported by local authorities, which has reduced from an average of £6.2 million to £5.1 million per authority in England. The reduction in reported shortfall is primarily due to local authorities investing more in their road maintenance programmes during 2013 in an attempt to catch up on maintenance needed after the previous wet winter.


AIA chairman Alan Mackenzie is urging central government to introduce an “invest to save” policy.


He said: “These fi gures are disappointing for everyone who has worked hard together on the Highway Maintenance Effi ciency Programme (HMEP) initiated by the Department for Transport. It’s thanks to HMEP that so many highways departments have successfully made the case to their councils to invest in more repairs to avoid further deterioration and costs. To see that work washed away is discouraging to say the least.


“The government has recently made signifi cant additional funds available to help combat the results of the relentless rainfall this winter but money spent on repairing damage never goes as far as money invested in planned, preventative maintenance. It costs at least 20 times more per square metre to fi ll a pothole than it does to resurface a road.”


Almost two-thirds (65%) of local authorities in England were affected by


Money spent on repairing damage never goes as far as money invested in planned, preventative maintenance. It costs at least 20 times more per square metre to fi ll a pothole than it does to resurface a road


the winter deluge, although at the time the survey was conducted most were unable to estimate the cost of damage to their networks, with many roads still under water. Highways engineers have reported that because their roads are in a fragile condition they are more affected by the wet weather and that they anticipated more potholes appearing once the water had receded.


Compensation claims


The number of compensation claims for personal injury or damage to vehicles has increased by 20 per cent over the last year to an average of 540 for each local authority in England (excluding London where the fi gures remain the same as the previous year) and 141 for councils in Wales.


The total cost of compensation claims due to poor road condition, including the cost of staff time spent processing them, amounted to £31.6m across England and Wales over the last year. Payouts on claims accounted for only £16.6m of this, with the remaining £15m (up from £13m) being staff costs incurred by local authorities processing claims.


The Survey was completed by 74 per cent of councils across England and Wales and was conducted during January and February 2014.


Alarm Survey 2014 quick facts


£12 billion


estimated one-time cost to get roads back into reasonable condition


£90 million


estimated one-time cost per authority in England to get roads back into reasonable condition


1.75 million


potholes fi lled in England (115 thousand in London, 148 thousand in Wales)


£714 million


annual budget shortfall across England and Wales


£5.1 million


annual budget shortfall per authority in England (£2m, London; £2.85m, Wales)


12 years


to clear backlog, England & Wales (14 years, London)


68 years


average time before road is resurfaced in England and Wales, excluding London


£31.6 million


total cost of road user compensation claims


The full ALARM Survey 2014 report is available for download at www.asphaltuk.org


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