Highways inspections

Please tell us what you think about our website, we welcome your feedback.

Customer notice

Due to essential maintenance some of our web services will be unavailable between these times 7pm Friday 25 May and 5pm Sunday 27 May 2012.

In case of any emergencies please see our Facebook or Twitter pages.

The inspection frequencies are set out in Wiltshire’s Highway Inspection Manual, and are shown for information in the table below:

Description	Frequency	Type of Inspection
A, B and some C and unclassified roads	Monthly	Driven
Most C roads and some unclassified roads	3 Monthly	Driven
Some C roads and unclassified roads	6 Monthly	Driven
Footway in main shopping area	Monthly	Walked
Footway in busy urban area	3 Monthly	Walked
Other urban areas and rural areas	Same as adjoining carriageway	Driven
Cycleway forming part of carriageway	Same as carriageway	Driven
Cycleway remote from carriageway	6 Monthly	Walked

Repairs of defects

Some defects have to be treated more urgently than others. The priority given to each type of defect depends on its location and is allocated in accordance with Wiltshire’s Highway Inspection Manual.

Serious highway defects are attended to as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours. Less serious defects are repaired as part of a planned maintenance programme. In cases where defects are not considered to be an immediate safety hazard the area of concern may be added to a programme for future planned maintenance, and it is monitored for further deterioration and treatment as necessary. The response times for typical defects are shown below.

Defect Type	Road Type	Description of Defect	Response
Carriageway pothole	A,B and some C and unclassified roads	More than 75mm deep and maximum dimension greater than 300mm	Repair or sign within 24 hours
		Between 75-40mm deep and maximum dimension greater than 300mm	Repair within one week
Carriageway pothole	Most C roads and unclassified roads	More than 100mm deep and maximum dimension greater than 300mm	Repair within one week
		Between 100-40mm deep and maximum dimension greater than 300mm	Repair within one month
		Between 75-40mm deep and maximum dimension greater than 300mm	Repair within three months
Footway trip	All footways	Up-stand more than 20mm	Repair, guard or sign within 24 hours
Footway cracks and gaps	Main shopping areas	Space between slabs or cracks 15mm wide and 15mm deep or greater	Repair within one week
	Other footways	Space between slabs or cracks 15mm wide and 15mm deep or greater	Repair within three months
Covers and gratings	All roads and footways	Covers missing or liable to progressive and sudden failure	Repair, guard or sign within 24 hours
	All roads and footways	All other conditions	Repair within one month

Serious defects are usually dealt with within 24 hours of identification. This may involve erecting signing and guarding, or could involve temporary or permanent repairs to the defect.

Last updated: 18 January 2011