Self-repairing potholes by 2050?
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
The cost of fixing potholes is immense, with the two potholes repaired on an M25 bridge coming to half a million pounds.
Last year in November reports showed that a decline in the funding allocated to minor road costs actually costs the wider economy £2.04 billion in 2017.
Bikebiz reports on the ongoing dangers of potholes that damage cards and injure cyclists that could result in innovations that evolve the UK's infrastructure. Phil Purnell, professor of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Leeds University, said:
"By 2050 in our cities, you won't have roads dug up, you won't have temporary traffic light, you won't have holes in the roads with barriers around them."
"Our infrastructure will learn how to repair itself".
Purnell and his team are investigating preventative maintenance of potholes and the UK's roads, identifying, prioritising and preventing the damage of cracks and potholes using drones. The drones send location details to a second drone which, equipped with a 3D printer, can fabricate a seal to repair the road. This investigation could result in the evolution of the UK's infrastructure.
