Agenda item

With reference to article 5 of the minute of the meeting of the former Continuous Improvement Committee of 24 February 2009, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Enterprise, Planning and Infrastructure, which reviewed the operation, effectiveness and benefits of the Jetpatcher road repair machine, and presented future options for increasing the output and costs for the operation.

The effectiveness and costs of the Jetpatcher in comparison with the deferred set patching and structural permanent patching were outlined in this report.  With an operating cost of approximately £3,600 per week or £98 per hour (plus additional costs for Traffic Safety and Control which could add about £300 to the weekly bill) the Jetpatcher had proved effective at providing a lasting repair to both deep and shallow pot holes, as well as sealing crazed areas of carriageways. Appended to the report were details of the number of total repairs on a weekly basis and an example of the weekly work, including the number of pot holes repairs, hours operated and quantity of materials used. 

In order to maintain the effectiveness of the operation and in order to keep pace with the ever increasing number of potholes the following options were being considered:-

1.         Purchase a second Jetpatcher – this would have immediate capital budget implication of approximately £140,000.  There would be a revenue cost of £3,600 per week to the revenue budget to cover operational costs.

2.         Increase the operating hours of the existing Jetpatcher.  It would be possible to do this by extending the working day and working at weekends. This would increase the output of the operation with no further Capital Budget implications.   The revenue costs would be as follows:-  Labour (48 hour week) - £2,000;  and Plant (capital costs covered in 37 hour but increased running costs) - £1,300;  and Material - £900.   This gave an operating cost of £88 per hour.

3.         Increase the operating hours of the existing Jetpatcher by double shifting the operation.   This would effectively double the output of the operation with no further capital budget implications.   The revenue costs would be as follows:-  Labour (24 hour week) - £3,000;  Plant (capital costs covered in 37 hour but increased running costs) - £1,600;  and Material - £1,600.   This gave an operating cost of £84 per hour.   This double manning of the machine would require to train up additional operators.

4.         Increase the output of the Jetpatcher by reducing the lost time operations.   This could be done by providing an additional squad to carry out the fit up for the repairs ahead of the machine:-  (a) remove or protect the vehicles in the locus;  (b) carry out preparatory works ahead of operation;  and (c) tidy up behind the operation.   There would be a revenue budget cost of £1,600 for this resource operating normal hours.  This would be increased to £2,800 to work alongside the Jetpatcher, if it was working extended hours.   At present the Council could not justify this additional cost to output.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)         to note the current Jetpatcher operations;  and

(ii)        to note the options available to increase the number of repairs undertaken against a background of prudent financial management as part of the 2010/2011 budget process.