Milton businessman Grant Schultz first spotted the rising lump in December following heavy rainfall. He had seen the road rise to about 400 millimetres along a two-metre stretch of the shoulder, while the surface near the centre of the lane had started to collapse and form a steep pothole on the Milton side of the surface.

Following last week’s story, a council spokesperson said it planned to begin repairs on Tuesday, January 15 weather permitting.

“Council regularly undertakes condition assessments of the roads and data collected is used to determine which roads are programmed for repair,” the spokesperson said.

“To keep the road network trafficable, Council crews undertake reactive maintenance repairs to fix defects in the pavement, like potholes.”

A red-light system will be in place while the section of the road is closed to one lane.

Mr Schultz said he was most appreciative of council’s quick response to this issue.

“I thank them for doing so,” he said.

“I also encourage all ratepayers to use the snap, send, solve app to report any council issues.”

Per Shoalhaven City Council – Potholes form when water infiltrates the road surface and the bitumen seal lifts under the action of vehicles driving over. That is why they commonly appear during wet weather. The repeated wheel movements remove more and more gravel making the hole deeper and dangerous.

To remove this hazard, the hole is filled with ‘cold mix’, which is a bitumen based product specifically designed for this purpose. Pothole repairs are necessary to remove the hazard until a more permanent repair can be arranged. With many roads requiring rebuilding, ongoing pothole repairs are sometimes the only viable repair method and the process may need to be repeated numerous times to keep the road trafficable until the pavement is replaced.

Another repair method is a called a ‘heavy patch’. This is where a small section (say 5m x 5m or larger) of the road is rebuilt to remove a localised defect.

This repair method is used when surrounding pavement is in otherwise good condition. Heavy patching does require more resources and planning than a pothole repair.

So, the pothole repair may be implemented initially to manage the hazard while the heavy patch can be designed and programmed.  

Heavy patching is a longer-term repair method than pothole repairs and is appropriate when the road is in otherwise good condition. It is more expensive than pothole repairs, so work crews need to be selective on where and how this type of patching is done.