Under the Highways Act 1980 Section 41 whoever controls the road has a legal duty to maintain it, which means if the road causes you to have an accident or damages your car, then the person in charge of that road should pay for repairs.

Motorists in the West Midlands have received thousands in compensation and according to the Express and Star, in total 106 compensation claims were made to Highways England over damaged vehicles in 2015.

The weather is not great for any vehicle, we all know that – but another danger presents itself when budget-conscious and financially-strapped councils fall behind on road repairs too. This problem is especially exacerbated when we are coming out of winter, when our roads have been subject to freezing conditions, snow and sleet, and shovelfuls of grit and salt.

The contrasting temperatures experienced between night and day can work on the road surface in much the same way it does on natural rocks, causing weathering and erosion. This creates that bane to all drivers – potholes!

While potholes are to be expected on any road at some point, problems arise when roads are subjected to worse than usual temperature fluctuations (as we experienced last year), excessive rain (areas of Suffolk are still suffering) and less than recommended maintenance. Roads should be regularly inspected for signs of impending damage and small cracks that, if ignored, will deepen and widen.

Sadly, the extreme weather that the UK has experienced over the last few years coincides with local councils being tasked with shaving millions off their annual costs. Unfortunately many of the councils decided to reduce the money spent on road maintenance and repair and this has resulted in the roads in many areas looking very much the worse for wear.

Unfortunately, this ‘money saving’ idea has backfired, quite spectacularly, with nearly 40,000 motorists putting in claims for injury or vehicular damage caused by potholes to their councils – you can read a full report here. This does not mean that the drivers were happy after receiving their compensation cheques as councils paid out to each driver, on average, only one-sixth of the amount that claimants received in 2012.

However, when you compare the fact that claimants in 2012 received around £2.264.00 and those in 2013 received £375.00 to the fact that each pothole costs about £50.00 to fix it quickly becomes clear that repairing each pothole promptly is still the cheapest method of dealing with the issue. After all, each pothole could damage several cars per day and the cost of even reduced compensation will quickly add up.

The government has recently announced that it is going to make £140 million available to local councils to repair the damage caused by the poor weather. Hopefully, this will see compensation figures falling this year as roads are returned to a good, drivable condition. At C R MacDonald Ltd, we have vast experience of the road surfacing industry, and can get your business’ car park, driveway or forecourt back into good operational status.

So, if the poor weather has caused havoc with your tarred surfaces this winter (or if the damage from previous years has been worsened), give us a call today. One of our team is waiting to take your call, and can guide you through the whole process, from planning to final fruition.

Some factories and warehouses work all day and night, so effective lighting throughout the hours of darkness is a must to reduce the risk of accidents and injuries as well as maintaining the high level of productivity required.
Hopefully you now have a clearer idea on the most essential elements of a factory forecourt and remember, when it comes to resurfacing, make our team here at CR MacDonald your number one choice on every occasion. Give us a call today to find out more about how we can transform your industrial forecourt with effective surfacing.

It is important as a business owner to ensure your premises meet good health and safety standards. Poorly surfaced, uneven and damaged car park surfaces can be a hazard to individuals as well as vehicles as they can become difficult to manoeuvre on foot which can be detrimental, especially to people with mobility issues, the elderly or children.

Here at CR MacDonald we offer a specialist tarmac and asphalt surfacing service on any commercial property car park. Our highly skilled team have years of experience ensuring your driveway or car park meets the highest standards. If your car park is in need of maintenance then get in touch today and speak to a member of our skilled workforce.

Here at CR MacDonald we take great pride in everything we do, from the level of service we offer to each and every valued customer through to the quality of work we complete, so we are immensely proud on any occasion this is recognised. Fortunately that happened just last month when we were awarded the Gold Award in the Highway Section at the recent Birmingham Considerate Contractor Awards ceremony.

Held at the Council House in Birmingham on 7th March, this prestigious ceremony was a celebration of all the hard work completed over the past year by members of the scheme, and was topped off for us with this great award! Recognising our continued efforts and achievements in conducting safe and a consistently high standard of work in and around the area, alongside our ability to keep the public and our customers at the forefront of everything we do, winning the Gold Award really is great recognition for the hard work of every member of our team over the last 12 months.

This scheme was set up in 1998 with all tarmac contractors carrying out work on the streets of Birmingham encouraged to volunteer to join the scheme in order to keep standards high. As a long standing volunteer of the scheme, we closely follow the Code of Practice in place and have since been rewarded for our efforts.

The focus of the awards evening was to reward contractors who consistently perform well on all levels, with numerous contractors from the highways and utilities industries there on the night. It was fantastic to be acknowledged with our award and was a great night all round as we socialised with peers and associates within the industry.

We promise to maintain our high standards over the course of the next 12 months as we are going all out for the award again, so if you want to experience the Gold Award winning service from us here at CR MacDonald, don’t hesitate to contact us on one of the numbers local to you at the top of the page or alternatively through our online contact form.

The government are attempting to offer assistance where possible, with £3bn being given to local councils between 2011 and 2015 to be spent on the road networks as well as the additional £215m announced in December last year, but with the figures found from this latest survey, that money is clearly not going to be enough.

At CR MacDonald, we are vastly experienced in the repair of potholes and will keep a keen eye on any developments announced by the government as a result of the findings from this survey, as it is quite clear that something drastic has to be done to ensure improvements are made.