What constitutes a pothole? (From Gazette Series)

What constitutes a pothole?

12:29pm Tuesday 16th March 2010

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THINK you have driven over a pothole? You might need to think again because there is strict criteria for what constitutes a pothole.

To be precise it must be the depth of a "golf ball" (1.6 in) and the width of a "large dinner plate" (11.8in), according to Gloucestershire’s Highways team.

However if you lived in Worcestershire a pothole would be the size of a significantly smaller dinner plate (7.9in), although the depth is the same but is measured as the size of a "fist".

In fact there is an array of ways authorities around the country describe the size of a pothole, from the width of a dustbin lid to the depth of two coins held together.

Gloucestershire also has a system for prioritising pothole repairs, which has puzzled people living along roads where some holes have been filled and others not.

The teams are firstly filling the worst potholes which are deemed dangerous, so in some cases large holes are filled and smaller one left to be sorted at a later date. In some locations areas of road will be patched or even resurfaced.

Gloucestershire County Council has now repaired almost 18,500 potholes since it launched Operation Road Rescue at the start of February.

Last week alone nearly 3,000 potholes were filled across the county and 11,300 sq m of patching work was carried out.

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