Keeping a lid on pot holes

One of the main reasons the City Council reseals roads is to keep them waterproof and prevent unsightly and dangerous pot holes. It's a serious job that costs serious money.

Christchurch has about 1800 kilometres of road and maintaining them costs about $6 million a year. That excludes work on the kerbs and channelling.

The Council has a commitment to fix a pot hole within 48 hours of finding out about it.

"We encourage people to report them," says City Streets maintenance team leader Richard Bailey. "Last year we filled 5879 and this year we expect to fill about 5500. In 1997-98 we only filled 4684 pot holes because it was a dry year."

Pot holes are caused by water. Vehicles cause cracks in the seal then push water underneath, leading to holes. The longer the holes are left, the bigger they get. Very big ones, or two joined together, are called "dig outs". The Council has contractors, Fulton Hogan and Works Infrastructure, who fix them.

Please report pot holes to your local service centre