City fixes thousands of potholes every month
On average, Transport for Cape Town, the City of Cape Town's transport authority, repairs 12 200 potholes across the city every month. Read more below:
A total of 47 teams from 20 depots are responsible for repairing potholes and in at least 80% of the cases the teams meet the City's own benchmark of fixing a pothole within 72 hours of it being reported to Transport for Cape Town (TCT).
‘This is a very high standard to maintain, given the fact that the city's road network comprises 10 629 kilometres and every inch of it has to be managed by TCT. One must admit that it is quite an achievement that over 80% of potholes are fixed within three days when each of the 47 teams has to repair at least 260 potholes every month,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member: Transport for Cape Town, Councillor Brett Herron.
Residents report at least 250 potholes to the City's call centre every week and the other potholes are identified by the supervisory staff at TCT's depots.
A C3 (fault reporting notification) is generated for every pothole that a resident reports via the City's fault reporting system. This report is sent to the relevant area depot, which passes it on to the responsible crew to undertake the repairs. This administrative process can take up to a day, but in most cases it is sorted out within a matter of hours.
The team will inspect the site and make the road safe for road users, either by repairing the pothole there and then or by demarcating the area if an immediate repair is not possible.
‘Sometimes delays are caused by inclement weather, the unavailability of asphalt to fix the potholes, or the breakdown of equipment. However, one of our biggest challenges is that the wrong information in relation to the location and address of the pothole is often reflected on the C3 notification system. In this instance residents can greatly assist TCT by providing the correct addresses,' said Councillor Herron.
The City does proactive maintenance work as well, such as the resealing and resurfacing of roads to prevent potholes.
The majority of potholes form when water penetrates the asphalt due to the cracking of the road's asphalt surfacing; when roads have to carry higher volumes of traffic than they were originally designed to carry; or when routine maintenance has not taken place due to funding availability. Grey water discharge onto roads and other sources of water such as natural underground springs are also contributing factors.
‘In the current financial year (2014/15), TCT will spend nearly R464 million on road maintenance, of which R110 million is allocated for the repair of potholes. We urge our residents to please report potholes to the City, either by phoning our call centre on 0860 103 089 or by using the TCT app (mobile application). TCT relies on residents to be our eyes and ears on the ground, given the fact that 81% of our road network (that is 8 649 kilometers of the overall network of 10 629 kilometers) is suburban roads,' said Councillor Herron.
Statement issued by Councillor Brett Herron, Mayoral Committee Member: Transport for Cape Town, City of Cape Town, December 9 2014
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