(see? it'll mainly be ranting like this)
Why Potholes Reappear
(or "This is the Modern World")
I have potholes outside my house. Several. They are always appearing. Always being filled. Always coming back.
The man from the council explained recently on the news "oh, we've stopped putting tar around the repairs now".
Hmm ... that's a bit odd. See, you fill a pothole with some 'instant tarmac', but it doesn't bond that well with the surrounding road surface. That's why you used to see that black line around them ... some tar poured around the edge of the patch, to help the two bits stick to each other. You see it when they re-surface one side of a road before another. That smoother, darker line. It's tar to 'glue' the two sides together.
But they've stopped doing that.
Of course, this means that water gets down the edges of the repair easier. Which means the repair doesn't last as long. So you get the pothole back sooner. About a year; that's how long it'll last.
At first, it seems crazy not to glue the repair in properly, but of course it makes perfect "sense". You see, councils have to reduce their costs, and repairing roads costs ... I mean let's say each repair costs £100. And you have 1000 to do each year. That's £100,000! But, save £10 by not tarring ... and you save £10,000. And councils have been told to cut costs. So this one simple things saves them lots of money - they hit their targets, and don't have to lay off so many people. Everyone wins.
So long as "a year" is as far as you look ahead. If you'd spent the extra £10 on the repair it would last 5 years. So, over 5 years you'd pay £100,000 - not the 5 x £90,000 we DO pay. Over 5 years you waste £350,000. But no-one looks that far ahead these days. Besides, we have that annual saving to make. Our hands are tied. And who really cares about 5 years anyway - that other lot will be in power then, and it'll be their problem. We can blame them for the poor road surfaces then. Hee hee.
Just so long as we don't care about having those potholes all over the roads of course. The accidents they might cause. The damage to property; to cars; to people. Just so long as we don't really care.
This is the modern world.
I have potholes outside my house. Several. They are always appearing. Always being filled. Always coming back.
The man from the council explained recently on the news "oh, we've stopped putting tar around the repairs now".
Hmm ... that's a bit odd. See, you fill a pothole with some 'instant tarmac', but it doesn't bond that well with the surrounding road surface. That's why you used to see that black line around them ... some tar poured around the edge of the patch, to help the two bits stick to each other. You see it when they re-surface one side of a road before another. That smoother, darker line. It's tar to 'glue' the two sides together.
But they've stopped doing that.
Of course, this means that water gets down the edges of the repair easier. Which means the repair doesn't last as long. So you get the pothole back sooner. About a year; that's how long it'll last.
At first, it seems crazy not to glue the repair in properly, but of course it makes perfect "sense". You see, councils have to reduce their costs, and repairing roads costs ... I mean let's say each repair costs £100. And you have 1000 to do each year. That's £100,000! But, save £10 by not tarring ... and you save £10,000. And councils have been told to cut costs. So this one simple things saves them lots of money - they hit their targets, and don't have to lay off so many people. Everyone wins.
So long as "a year" is as far as you look ahead. If you'd spent the extra £10 on the repair it would last 5 years. So, over 5 years you'd pay £100,000 - not the 5 x £90,000 we DO pay. Over 5 years you waste £350,000. But no-one looks that far ahead these days. Besides, we have that annual saving to make. Our hands are tied. And who really cares about 5 years anyway - that other lot will be in power then, and it'll be their problem. We can blame them for the poor road surfaces then. Hee hee.
Just so long as we don't care about having those potholes all over the roads of course. The accidents they might cause. The damage to property; to cars; to people. Just so long as we don't really care.
This is the modern world.
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