Pothole repairs and map

A pothole is a depression or hole in the road surface that forms where broken pieces of pavement have fallen away.

As the road pavement naturally ages, cracks occur in the surface. Moisture and water seeps through the cracks into the base material beneath the road surface. As vehicles pass over these weakened sections, the base material shifts, forming a cavity. With nothing under the road surface to support it, it falls away resulting in a pothole. 

In wet weather, a pothole can form very rapidly, and the deterioration of the pothole will accelerate. Community reporting of potholes is particularly important during weather events where potholes can spontaneously appear, and the number of potholes can greatly increase.

Works to prevent potholes can commence when cracking occurs in the road pavement. The pavement is sealed to keep moisture and water from seeping through the cracks into the base material to both keep potholes from forming, and also extend the asset life of the road surface.

Works are carried out under Council’s Road Renewal Programs and treatments can include rejuvenation, heavy patching, resurfacing and rehabilitation. These are funded through Council’s capital works programs and a pavement management system is used to produce an optimised road renewal program with appropriate treatments based on available funds.

Extreme weather events or persistent rain can cause more potholes to appear a lot more quickly than usual. Under these circumstances, it can be difficult to prevent potholes from occurring. Potholes will typically develop up to three times faster following heavy or prolonged rainfall.
 

With over 2,000 km of road network under Council management, since the natural disaster a full network inspection has been completed. Ongoing pavement inspections ensures that new defects are identified and addressed promptly.  Due to the current influx of potholes we are prioritising repairs which may see crews repair the higher priority potholes and return at a later date to repair lower priority potholes in the same road or suburb.  This helps us ensure that the road is trafficable and safe for use by motorists

Council has short, medium, and long-term strategies to manage and prevent potholes. Pothole patching is an important part of our maintenance program, as it addresses defects quickly and keeps roads safe for motorists. It’s the first intervention level in accordance with our long-term asset management strategy across our road network.

Pothole patching is a temporary solution to reduce safety hazards and used to isolated defects in the road network.  It is also the only solution that can be underway during wet weather. These types of repairs are designed to ensure it is kept safe for traffic until a more permanent restoration or resurfacing can occur.
During dry weather more permanent pothole repairs and other solutions can be applied. Heavy patch repairs provide a medium-term solution where a section of the road is treated.

For the longer term, renewal works are undertaken which include rehabilitation and resurfacing of the pavement. Upgrade works, which include street drainage, kerb and gutter and new road pavement can also be undertaken however it is costly and creates new infrastructure adding to future maintenance.

This interactive map identified the current backlog as at 24 September 2025. Further potholes may appear after this time and these will be logged in Council’s maintenance management system.  
Council’s Road Maintenance staff carry out proactive inspections of the road pavement in a cyclic schedule every three months. As part of these inspections any defects, including potholes are recorded with appropriate action undertaken to schedule maintenance works.

If you notice a pothole that isn’t identified on the map, we encourage you to report it through Council’s online Customer Service Centre. By reporting directly, you help us make sure we are aware of all locations and that our crews can prioritise repairs across the network. 

Council must prioritise pothole repairs to make the best use of available resources and ensure the safety of road users. Factors such as pothole size and depth, road speed, traffic volumes, and the position of the pothole (for example, if it is in the wheel track or located at an intersection) determine how urgently a repair is required.

This means that while all potholes identified are assessed, those that pose the highest risk to road safety are repaired first. Others may take longer to be scheduled. For some roads, crews may repair priority potholes within a road or suburb and then return at a later time to undertake further pothole repairs. Our crews are working hard to reduce the backlog, and we appreciate the community’s patience while we address the most urgent repairs as quickly as possible.
 

Council manages over 2,200 km of road network. Whilst we proactively inspect the road pavement to identify any defects, we encourage our residents and visitors to report any potholes and other safety concerns to Council.

If you notice a pothole or road safety issue, please report it via Council’s online Customer Service Centre.

Community reporting of potholes is particularly important during weather events where potholes can spontaneously appear, and the number of potholes can greatly increase.
 

Council’s Road Maintenance staff carry out proactive inspections of the road pavement in a cyclic schedule every three months. As part of these inspections any defects, including potholes are recorded with appropriate action undertaken to schedule maintenance works. The timing for undertaking works to address these identified defects is assessed on a risk basis. 

During times of increased pothole volumes, often triggered by heavy rain or storm events, we adjust workforce capacity by bringing in staff from other teams to ensure we provide the highest response possible to return the network to pre-storm conditions. Unfortunately, there will be a backlog of pothole repairs in the months following a significant storm event.