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According to the RAC pothole related breakdowns were up by 63% over the last year. Between January and March this year breakdown patrols helped 6,500 drivers who were in trouble due to poor road conditions. The problems ranged from punctures and broken suspension through to distorted wheels.

So I was interested to read that researchers at Delft University in the Netherlands may have the answer. They have come up with a self-repairing Asphalt. Normal Asphalt is made to be porous in order to reduce road noise, but the pores allow cracks to build up and eventually turn into a potholes. In order to overcome this the clever people at Delft have come up with the idea of mixing in steel wool into the asphalt.

The steel wool makes the mix conductive to electricity. So if a crack appears a magnetic induction machine is rolled over the surface to heat the mixture that will close the cracks before they become potholes. This system has been under test since 2010 on 12 Dutch roads with none of them requiring any more repairs. The Asphalt mix costs around 25% more but they say the new mix could double the life cycle of roads saving money in the long run.

Personally I have yet to be convinced as firstly they have to identify the cracked roads very early on, then they need to tow to the site a special induction machine on wheels that then sends a current through the wool to heat up the Asphalt. And once a pothole appears you are back to a man with a shovel and a heavy boot to repair it. Let’s face it if we had the ‘crack warning’ early enough and the resources we could dispatch the man with his shovel to fix it just as quick and more cheaply. But what do I know? By Graham Hill

Weird idea of the week – OK, some students at Milan Polytechnic have come up with an idea to make potholes safer. Seems this is a massive Eurowide problem, what the local authorities do is lay asphalt inside the pothole coloured with a fluorescent paint before repairing it so that when the top layer of asphalt starts to break up again the bright fluorescent asphalt will shine through and alert motorists and the local authorities that a problem is about to appear! Hmmm, why not fix the pothole properly in the first place? Apparently the idea is being trialled and will come to the UK if successful, no doubt as an EU directive. By Graham Hill

I know I seem obsessed with potholes at the moment but they are such a pain and costing motorists a fortune. The Germans came up with a solution in the village of Niederzimmern near Leipzig. They sold their potholes for 50 Euros which the council filled with asphalt and a metal plaque which carries the owner’s name or a tribute to a loved one. Of course not wishing to miss an opportunity the Brits are planning Read more »