At least 5,000 potholes and defects repaired on Island's roads

Extensive winter road damage is almost fully fixed now say the Isle of Man Government.

Extensive winter road damage is almost fully fixed now say the Isle of Man Government.

Manx roads have suffered extreme damage following the last two uncommonly severe winters.

Richard Pearson, Director of Highways commented: 'Water can get into cracks in the road and repeatedly freeze, expand and then thaw and this causes the road to start to break up as will have been widely observed. In severe cases, tracks that have historically been made up into roads by simply overlaying tarmac, can suffer from ‘frost heave' where the ground itself freezes expands and blows out in a more dramatic and catastrophic failure. Both failure modes have been evident around the islands 650 mile road network due to sustained temperatures of less than minus 5 degrees C.'

It is estimated that at least 5,000 potholes and defects have been repaired so far.

The work has already cost an extra £730,000, which had to be taken from other parts of the infrastructure budget.

Since November reports have been running at up to 7 times the usual levels with typically 500 per month.