I saw firsthand the multi-purpose 'Multihog' machines speeding up Shropshire Council's war on potholes
Getting to grips with the huge amount of potholes in the county is one of Shropshire Council’s key priorities – with the new Liberal Democrat administration asking to be judged on that front after 100 days in power.
There are 3,200 miles of roads in Shropshire, ranging from the main A- and B- roads to the smaller C- and unclassified roads. No matter where they spring up, they can have a huge impact on people’s lives.
One of the ways the council wants to “get things moving” quicker is by using Multihog road planer machines for more complex jobs.
Multevo, which is contracted by Shropshire Council to carry out highways maintenance, currently has two, which can plane off the road surface much quicker than having to saw-cut and break out the defected surface by hand.
“We’ve got two Multihog teams who will do 130 square metres of repair in a day,” said Josh Sweeney, director of marketing at Multevo.
“They are used on roads that are deteriorating and need that extra level of resource. We’re responsible for permanently repairing any defect.
“If we’re going to make a visit to a location, we want to make sure that every defect is picked up and repaired permanently so we’re not going back at a later date. We’ve been integrated into Shropshire for a number of years, and our approach has always been to try and do as little temporary repairs as possible.
“Last year, along with Shropshire Council, we picked up two awards because of the work we’ve done: Highways Team of the Year, and a Collaborative Partnership Award because of the approach of fixing things first time.”
On Monday (July 14), the Local Democracy Reporting Service was invited to see a Multihog in action on an unclassified road near Stapleton in north Shropshire. A full road closure was put in place, with work due to be completed by next Wednesday (July 23).
Dec Pye, a supervisor at Multevo, said the Multihogs cut out a lot of time.
“It also cuts out dust and means the lads aren’t out using tools all the time,” he said.
“There are two in Shropshire, but we have a spare in the depot if anything goes wrong with them. I’ve seen defects reduced.”
Mr Sweeney added that a traffic light system is used to monitor Multevo’s performance, with the firm currently “in the green”.
“The numbers can go up and down, but I think we’re in a good place,” he said.
“Just last week, we’ve reduced the number of reported defects by 330.
“We look after everything from surveying the road and identifiying the right treatment through to programming the works, raising permits, and making residents aware that work will be happening.
“We’ve got to work on safety critical information we receive. If a team has reported that the defects need to be repaired in a certain anount of time, we will go out and do that.
“Some of the machines are multi-purpose so can be used in additional activities. It’s becoming more of a regular scenario where we’ve used the same machines to help with floods – pump water away in the night, then road repairs in the day.
“We engage with local businesses and residents advising them that we’re going to be working in the area and speak parish councillors to gain any feedback. In the last round of feedback, the residential satisifaction in Shropshire had gone up by a significant amount.”
Forthcoming works where Multihogs will be used include:
Wednesday, July 16 to Thursday, July 17 – Pentregear Issa to Croesan Bach
Friday, July 18 – A495, Llansaintfraid Road
Monday, July 21 to Wednesday, July 30 – B4397, Burlton to Loppington
Thursday, July 24 – Newport Road, Albrighton
Thursday, July 24 to Wednesday, July 30 – Ash Road, Whitchurch
All work will be carried out between 9.30am and 4pm on weekdays.
