Unique Pothole Protest - Cock Drawing!

Bright white penises have been spray painted around more than a dozen potholes on Cock Lane. (yes that is the roads real name!).

Residents have been complaining about subsidence and the crumbling road surface for two years but the council has carried out no repairs.

Now motorists hope the images - which are different sizes and point in different directions - will spur authorities into action.

Polly Birkbeck, 49, spotted the obscene graffiti, in Fetcham, Surrey, while taking her daughter to school yesterday.

She said: "I drive down there every day on the school run and said to my daughter, 'hang on a minute, someone's drawn willies on the road'.

"There are about 15 of them, I stopped the car and counted.
"They're on all the bad bits of the road, it's a sort of protest by someone with a smutty sense of humour.

"That stretch of road is really annoying, it's terribly uneven, I guess the council will just scrub them off but I'm surprised they haven't fixed this bit of road because it's been like that for years.

"It's possibly a way to highlight the issue and galvanise someone into action.

"It did make me smile - it's quite surprising to see because you don't get much graffiti around here.

"I have absolutely no idea who did it, but it must have taken a while." Cllr Raj Haque said Surrey County Council had promised fix the road this month but it has now been put back to next year.

He said the delay was "a shock to many residents who were given reassurances that the work would be under way in September".

Ian Routledge, who lives on a road joining Cock Lane, said: “This has been an issue for at least two years.

"No-one from the council will have a sensible conversation with you about what needs to be done.
“We just get fobbed off all the time.”

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk

'Self Healing Concrete' = No More Potholes?!

The UK suffers particularly badly with potholes due to the type of Tarmac used on our roads. It is more porous than that used in hotter European countries, this is so that it can clear surface water during a downpour.Unfortunately  in colder weather, this water that has seeped into the road surface can freeze and expand, causing damage to the asphalt.

Scientists at the University of Bath, Cardiff University and the University of Cambridge have been in the process of creating a new road surface, which uses bacteria to fill-in gaps and cracks caused by poor weather. This "Self healing concrete" means that Potholes could soon become a thing of the past.

When the bacteria comes into contact with water, it  bursts and produce limestone, which seals the gap before it can develop into a pothole.

The team behind the project believes that benefits will include

• Removing the need for patchwork repairs
• Reduce Compensation claims from drivers who've had their vehicles damaged by potholes
• Transport network would become safer for vulnerable road users such as cyclists.

The groundbreaking (or should that be ground-making?) new material is just one of a number of innovations outlined by engineering company Arup.

Other ideas include replacing asphalt with solar panels, which could be used to charge electric cars and melt snow.

It also has plans to harvest energy from pedestrians by fitting pressure pads into the pavement, and place snowflake graphics on road surfaces using temperature sensitive paint, which would warn drivers when the temperature drops below a certain point.

Arup's global highways business leader Tony Marshall said: "While temperature-sensitive paint and solar surfaces may seem far-fetched, the innovations envisioned in this report are already being tested and piloted around the world," writes the Telegraph.

"They will change the way that we approach mobility and freight transport and will provide safer, more reliable and more environmentally friendly highway infrastructure for generations to come."

Pothole Stickers Used to Slow Speeders in Canada!

This was the essence of an email that popped in to my inbox the other day, alongside these amazing images

 

Well I certainly wouldn't take the risk would you?

Upon further investigation around the internet however these giant pothole stickers are not police equipment used to deter speeding, they are however part of an advertisement for Pioneer Suspension, a vehicle suspension supplier (that's what the text is in the road ahead). The ad was intended to suggest to drivers that, with Pioneer Suspension fitted to their vehicles, they would enjoy a smooth ride even on rough roads.

Snooper Lynx GT Lite