Background
Term maintenance contractors have a different perspective on road maintenance than councils and local authorities, as they are commercially invested in their operations. We spoke to an Operations Manager for a large maintenance contractor in the East Midlands, UK, about the value he gets from his fleet of Roadmaster velocity patchers.
Need
“As a maintenance contractor, we are very focused on efficiency, worker productivity and material costs. Demonstrating a strong ROI to the councils and local authorities who contract us is vital, and the greater efficiency we can drive for our clients, the greater the chance there is of having our contracts renewed.
We trialled several spray patchers over the years, but none gave us the results we were looking for. One required 2 operators, which affected our bottom line, and we also experienced problems with over-spraying and damage to property, which was also costing us.
However, about ten years back we started using jet patchers from Roadmaster, and it was a total revelation. The material control and durability of the fix are fantastic.
For us, quality control is the key. Everything is computerised and calibrated, so there’s no variable mixing. This allows us to get the highest quality repair that will last the longest time with no waste, and the savings on materials compared to traditional repair is substantial.
The real-time data allows us to monitor productivity closely, and from this, we have been able to devise a tight working schedule that maximises the productivity of our operators. When they leave the depot in the morning, we know exactly how much material they’re carrying and how much ground they can cover with that. This means we can set a route for them that gets the most out of their time and materials.
We currently use our Roadmasters in conjunction with traditional maintenance such as tar and chip and thermal repairs. The velocity patchers have helped us be more proactive with our maintenance, rather than constantly trying to keep up with reactive repairs.
Our use of the machines is unconventional in a way. Many users talk about the benefits of performing repairs with no traffic disruption. We prefer to close off 2-kilometre stretches of road, create a diversion, and then repair all defects along that long section of road. The entire process takes about 15 minutes before the traffic is back on it. We can then be sure that the road surface is good for another year.
Conclusion
Spray patching has been a gamechanger for us and has allowed us to take a preventative approach to maintenance, rather than being on the back foot with reactive repairs. The control over materials means the fix is always better, so we know that once we have repaired a section of the road, it’s good for another year to come. I haven’t looked at any other machine since making the change to Roadmaster velocity patchers.