- Akron is buying two $300,000 DuraPatcher repair trucks.
- One operator can fill a pothole in under two minutes.
- The spray-injection method delivers longer-lasting repairs.
Pothole season is here for much of the USA, and Akron, Ohio, has a new tool to combat it. Forget crews blocking roads for several hours while they dig out problematic bits of road before filling holes. A new device, dubbed the P5 Durapatcher, allows just one person to fix potholes in under two minutes. Each rig costs the city $300,000, but officials say the investment is already paying off.
In the past, and still on many American roads today, crews of up to five workers handle potholes one at a time. They’ll dig out loose debris, shovel in fresh patching material, and seal it to get by. Those patches don’t always last, though. This new Durapatcher truck allows one worker to do the entire job in two minutes without even exiting the vehicle.
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The operator takes four steps in the process, says the Beacon Journal. They use high-pressure air to blast away loose debris from the hole first. Then, they spray in a sealing liquid to help with adhesion. Third, the worker injects a mix of asphalt aggregate and binding materials.
Finally, they add a layer of dry stone at the top, which creates a non-tacky surface to drive over while sealing the patch. The worker manages all of this with a joystick in the cabin.
Akron Mayor’s Office
Unlike traditional “throw-and-go” patches that might last a season if they’re lucky, Akron says this creates a permanent repair. That’s a bold claim, but the spray-injection method is widely regarded as more durable because it bonds tightly to the existing pavement rather than simply sitting on top of it.
The DuraPatcher can operate in temperatures as low as 5 degrees Fahrenheit (about -15°C) thanks to a heated 300-gallon (1,135-liter) tank that keeps material workable. That means repairs can happen nearly year-round.
Akron has increased resurfacing from roughly 20 miles of streets annually to 50–60 miles in recent years. That’s serious progress on something that bums out both drivers and the workers doing the repair work.