Rotorua family's pothole drama: Authorities say pothole repairs have risen

Delain Morrison had two choices - either let a massive pothole swallow up his wheel causing a huge thud and substantial damage or swerve right and hit a car head-on.

He didn't swerve.

The Rotorua father is grateful he and his family are safe but is angry at the state of the roads that saw his wheel rim buckle after it sank into a large pothole on State Highway 30 at Rotoiti.

The large pothole is one of several that have popped up on the district's roads in recent weeks and new figures supplied to the Rotorua Daily Post show the amount of work being carried out to fix them has jumped.

An increase in rain and the state of the roads are being blamed.

The pothole on State Highway 30 that caused the damage. Photo / Supplied

The Morrison family had spent the day at a children's rugby tournament in Kawerau on August 21and were heading home when they drove into the pothole.

Morrison said they pulled over to inspect the damage and were shocked to find how big the pothole was.

"The pothole was that bloody big. I couldn't avoid it. It almost took out the whole lane."

He said he didn't want to undertake his lane because there was loose gravel on the side of the road and a car was coming at speed towards him in the other lane - leaving him no choice but to drive through it.

"It was quite freaky. I was so glad the tyre didn't pop making us lose control because it could have thrown us into the line of the other car."

The broken wheel rim. Photo / Supplied

Morrison said he was already on high alert because there were several potholes on the road - a route he knew well having travelled the road several times recently for work.

"With it being a low-profile tyre, it just snapped the rim."

He said it wasn't just open roads where he had noticed an increase.

"It's madness around town as well. I've been working in Kawerau and come to know where they are but they move so quick. No sooner they fix one up and another pops up next to it."

The deep pothole on State Highway 30 at Rotoiti. Photo / Supplied

Morrison said he had approached organisations to see if they can offer any compensation to fix his rim but has so far had no luck.

Waka Kotahi Bay of Plenty system manager Roger Brady said this winter had seen a significant increase in potholes across the country, compared to the past three years.

He said it was due to the current network conditions and a wet winter.

For the financial year to June 30 this year, there were 3713 potholes repaired on Waka Kotahi highways in the Bay of Plenty compared with 3222, 3280 and 3260 in the previous three years.

He said all potholes should be fixed within 48 hours of contractors being notified.

Brady said they had a plan to improve the overall state highway road condition and it was investing $2.8 billion into state highway road maintenance nationally.

"This summer will see approximately 2450 lane kilometres of state highway resealed or rebuilt, the largest ever programme Waka Kotahi has undertaken."

Waka Kotahi Bay of Plenty system manager Roger Brady said it only paid compensation for damage on rare occasions when its contractors hadn't fixed the potholes within the required 48-hour period of being notified.

Figures supplied by the Rotorua Lakes Council show there have already been 751 potholes and other types of surface undulation repaired on urban and rural council roads so far this year.

For the entire year last year, there were 910 repairs, with 1021 and 1060 repairs the two years before that.

Delain Morrison with his broken tyre rim thanks to a pothole. Photo / Kelly Makiha

Council infrastructure and environmental solutions deputy chief executive Stavros Michael said weather patterns caused potholes, such as extreme rainfall penetrating road surfaces and creating hydraulic pressure due to traffic loading. That then pops up a small chunk of seal creating a surface dip.

Michael said icy temperatures were also to blame when water in the voids of the road surface becomes ice which then expands and pushes up the road surface. Residential construction works and trenching works could also cause them.

"Most road surface damage is due to water ingress inside the road pavement and we've had a lot of rainfall in recent months. Rainfall events are becoming more frequent and more severe and generally, we can expect more road damage during winter months when we tend to have more rain."

The broken wheel rim. Photo / Supplied

Michael said it was also less favourable to repair road damage during winter months.

He said the council dealt with requests for compensation on a case-by-case basis.

Reporting potholes

Anyone who notices damage on council urban or rural roads should call (07) 348 4199 and it will be logged directly with the council's contractor to inspect and repair.

The council expects repairs to be done as soon as possible but they could be weather dependent.

For state highway damage, contact Waka Kotahi on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49).