Aron Dornan sealing cracks and joins on Carmichael Rd yesterday in an effort to prevent potholes forming. Photo/John Borren
The unusually wet weather has brought upon our fair city a plague of potholes.
Some 151 potholes were filled in the Tauranga City Council's road network in September and October. That does not include state highways. In the same months last year there were 115 potholes filled.
The council's transportation manager, Martin Parkes, said the culprit was clearly more rain.
"Persistent rainfall leads to saturated pavements, which can weaken the pavement materials.
"Potholes appear when water gets into or under the pavement, then the pavement breaks down under the stress of vehicle movements."
Areas with lots of traffic - especially turning traffic, such as intersections and tight bends, or heavy traffic from trucks and buses - were more likely to have potholes.
Pothole complaints were sent straight to the council's road maintenance contractor, who was given 48 hours to fill them - no matter how many there were.
"The contractor receives a lump sum per month to fill potholes," Mr Parkes said.
On Monday, Aron Dornan and Greg Walker from Sealing NZ were on Carmichael Rd doing pothole prevention.
Mr Walker, who has owned the business for nine years, said prevention involved sealing over cracks and joins in the road to stop water getting in and eroding the ground beneath.
There had been plenty of that sort of work available for his Matamata-based team all over the Bay of Plenty and the North Island this year, he said. The rain was to blame.
According to MetService rainfall monitoring, Tauranga was still on track for one of its wettest years on record. So far this year the city has enjoyed 1607.6mm of rain - 418mm more than the average annual rainfall of 1189m.
If the tally reaches 1800mm, 2017 will be one of the top five wettest years since records began in 1898.
Tauranga Tyre and Battery co-owner Beverley Johnson said the damage that could be done to a tyre by a pothole ranged from a puncture to a cracked rim.
The level of damage - and associated repair cost - more often than not came down to the speed the car was going when it hit the hole, she said.
Pothole plague: by the numbers
Potholes recorded and filled in the Tauranga City Council's road network October 2017 - 70 October 2016 - 49