INDUSTRY EQUIPMENT: CONSTRUCTION
The Jetpatcher truck carries an aggregate hopper,
a bitumen emulsion tank and delivery hoses.
CONSTRUCTION:
BOTTOM-UP POTHOLE CURE
There is an instant solution to fix potholes that pockmark roads across the African continent,
writes Leon Louw.
C
onventional methods of fixing
road failures are not always
the most efficient or most
productive way to deal with
a problem that has cost the continent
millions of dollars.
New technology is often scoffed at, with
the perception that more efficient means of
patching up and fixing the roads, will result
in job cuts. “Not so,” says Kobus Bothma,
chief business officer at road maintenance
specialist Jetpatcher. “In fact, using our
methods actually creates jobs, and what’s
www.equipmentandhire.co.za
more, it upskills people and provides them
with dignified responsibilities,” he says.
Improving the quality
Jetpatcher manufactures four different
sized units with the aggregate hopper
and bitumen tank mounted on the
back of the applicable cab-chasis. The
system not only improves the quality
of the work done to fix potholes and
similar road failures, it makes it easier
and much quicker to get the job done.
Originally a New Zealand concept,
Jetpatcher has quickly made inroads into
the African market, with more than 40
machines operating in South Africa alone.
Furthermore, government departments
and road construction contractors in
countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Angola,
Zimbabwe, Namibia and Swaziland are
currently using Jetpatcher trucks.
Earlier this year Jetpatcher worked on
a project with the Johannesburg Roads
Agency (JRA) and fixed more than
9 000 potholes within two months. That
is an average of 200 potholes per day, a
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