The true depth of Wales’ pothole problem revealed

– THE TRUE DEPTH OF WALES’ POTHOLE PROBLEM REVEALED –

– Scroll to the murky depths of Wales’ combined 20,3781 potholes
reported in 2016 using interactive animation –

· CONFUSED.COM’S SCROLLING ANIMATION [2] reveals
Wales’ pothole problem drills down almost ONE KILOMETRE2 deep –
FOUR TIMES the depth of the English Channel (174m).

· The animation’s regional view reveals Swansea
has the deepest pothole problem in Wales, with a total depth of 151m.

· Scroll the total depth of the UK’s potholes
combined, which is more than 40km deep – almost FOUR TIMES the depth
of the Pacific Ocean.

· In 2016, councils in Wales forked out more than
£6,000,000 to repair potholes and more than £316,000 in compensation
to those who’ve had their car damaged by craters in the road.

As the cold weather starts to set in, more and more potholes may
start to appear on roads – a dreaded issue for both drivers and
local councils. New research presented in a scrolling animation [3]
reveals just how deep Wales’ pothole problem goes, and it is far
worse than it appears on the surface.

A freedom of information request by Confused.com, the driver saving
site, reveals a total of 20,378 potholes were reported to the
region’s councils in 2016. Each local authority was asked for the
minimum depth of a road defect to be considered a pothole, and this
figure was aggregated against the total number to reveal a depth of
almost 1km (775m). The animation allows users to visualise the true
depth of the region’s potholes combined, scrolling passed iconic
recorded depths such as the bottom of the English Channel (174m) and
the UK’s deepest cave in Powys (275m). Users can then scroll all the
way passed the Mariana Trench (11km) and the world’s deepest
man-made hole (12.3km) into the Earth’s upper mantle (30km) before
arriving at the combined depth of the UK’s 1,033,486 potholes. This
is over 40 km deep and 3.7 times the depth of the deepest part of the
Pacific Ocean.

The animation also allows users to drill down to specific local
authority areas, and Swansea comes out on top for having the deepest
pothole problem of the region.

Having this many potholes can be a very costly job for councils, as
they fork out for repairs, as well as compensation to victims of
damage caused by the craters in the road. In fact, a third (33%) of
motorists in the UK say their car has been damaged by a pothole.

· In 2016, the region’s councils spent a whopping
£6,181,917 repairing potholes.

· They also spent a combined sum of £316,556 to
compensate drivers for damage to cars caused by potholes.

Local authority area

No. of potholes reported

Total depth

£ spent on repairs

£ spent on compensation

Swansea

3,020

151m

n/a

£834

Ceredigion

3,152

126m

n/a

n/a

Cardiff

2,928

88m

£89,000

£288,025

Conwy

2,220

67m

£643,002

n/a

Pembrokeshire

838

63m

£200,890

£1,195

AMANDA STRETTON, MOTORING EDITOR AT CONFUSED.COM, SAYS, “Scrolling
to depths of more than 40km really puts into perspective just how deep
the UK’s pothole problem really is. _They are a major bugbear among
drivers, not least because of the damage they do to our vehicles –
around £3.1 million worth of damage, which has been paid out by
almost half of the UK’s councils.

“If drivers experience a bump in the road, they should report it to
their local council as soon as possible before the problem gets any
worse. The cost of motoring alone is getting more and more expensive
and damage repairs is a big contributor to this, as car parts increase
in price as well.

“For advice on pothole damage, and other ways to save on motoring
costs, drivers can find more information at Confused.com.”