Sunderland road repairer bags major London contract at Wembley

Sunderland-based road repair specialist Velocity has been awarded a contract for an extensive project in London.

Twice as many potholes are set to be filled in Brent, as the borough becomes the first in the capital to adopt the widespread use of spray-injection patching to repair roads.

Working with Velocity, the council is pioneering the use of the method in the capital to tackle potholes and other defects with minimal traffic disruption.

Velocity’s innovative technique involves a three-stage process where defects are cleared using high velocity air, then perfectly sealed to prevent further deterioration before aggregate coated in a bitumen emulsion is applied, again at high velocity.

Tony Kennedy, Brent Council’s head of highways and infrastructure, said: “With traditional excavate and fill repairs we would repair between twenty to twenty-five defects per day. Using this technique, we can repair in excess of 50 per day.

“We evaluated the technique with regards to customer satisfaction. The response and compliments we’ve had from residents have been very encouraging.”

The new material is compacted from the bottom-up, leaving a permanent repair that is ready for traffic immediately.

The project follows a trial of the technique, where over 70 roads were repaired with positive feedback from residents. Because it’s so fast and uses a mobile works process road closures are not necessary, minimising inconvenience for road users.

Councillor Shama Tatler, Brent Council’s lead member for regeneration, highways and planning, said: “We want to keep traffic moving and make our roads the best they can be - despite the savings we’ve had to find due to significant and on-going Government funding cuts.

“It’ll take some time but we believe this new way of filling potholes quickly will improve the condition and appearance of our road network while giving taxpayers even better value for money.”

Dominic Gardner, Velocity’s managing director, added: “We are very proud to be working in partnership with Brent Council on this extensive project.

“To adapt to the busy urban environment, we have adjusted our machine and process to protect street furniture, verges and vehicles.

“The forward-thinking highways team at Brent put us to the test, proving the suitability and durability of our process for the busiest urban networks. We are already making good progress, repairing over fifty defects per day, seven days per week.

“This is the most extensive spray-injection patching project carried out in London. Other London boroughs have already expressed an interest in using Velocity and are keen follow Brent’s lead.”

Velocity will be visiting each of the 22 wards in the borough, spending two weeks on average in each. This will be repeated in 2020.