Midlothian Council's Pothole Pro 'The Tarminator' smashes permanent road repairs target

Tarminator repairs Midlothian’s damaged roads

Midlothian Council’s JCB Pothole Pro has smashed the target of permanently repairing 1,000 potholes in Midlothian in the first six months of its use.

Called ‘The Tarminator’ after a public competition to name the 13-tonne digger, the machine has fixed 1,930 potholes between May 16 and the end of September this year.

Midlothian Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for roads, Councillor Dianne Alexander said: “Working with this powerhouse of a machine, the roads teams actually reached the target of permanently repairing 1,000 potholes in July. To now nearly get to the 2,000 mark and beyond is incredible and is testament to just how quick and effective the JCB Pothole Pro is. These are permanent repairs that should last the lifetime of the road, which is great news for our communities.”

Pictured left to right are: Broomieknowe Gardens resident Diane Smith, Midlothian Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for roads, Cllr Dianne Alexander, JCB Pothole Pro driver Stuart Dunlop and roads crew members Dougie Hall and Sam McLean.

The JCB Pothole Pro is a three-in-one solution specifically designed to take on any pothole repair, large or small. It cuts away damaged road surface, crops the edges of the cavity and cleans it out within eight minutes. A four-person crew then prepares, fills, and rollers the repair sealing it permanently, all within half an hour. Conventional methods would take half a day to do fix the same pothole temporarily.

The JCB was bought as part of a £780,000 capital investment to replace outdated roads machinery. The council also recently completed a £5 million, two-year programme to resurface residential streets. An additional capital budget of £12.5m is to be spent over the next five years to continue to upgrade the residential road network.

Cllr Alexander added: “We know the public feel very strongly about potholes and maintaining our roads. That’s why we’re doing as much as we can to offer the best possible service within the severe financial constraints all local authorities are facing. Meanwhile, we continue to have a robust system in place to inspect, prioritise and repair potholes with emergency pothole repairs carried out within 24 hrs.”

Speaking about the JCB Pothole Pro, Bonnyrigg resident Diane Smith of Broomieknowe Gardens welcomed The Tarminator fixing potholes on her road. She said: “It’s certainly impressive.”