What road maintenance we perform

We maintain over 5400 kilometres of roads within Aberdeenshire and are fully committed to improving the condition of these roads.

View more information on the following road maintenance that we perform:

Report a road fault

You can report a non-emergency road faults online. View our guidance on reporting emergency faults.

Road inspections

We apply a risk based approach to assess and score road defects in order to establish repair times. More information can be found in our Road Inspection Summary (PDF 96KB).

Potholes

The most common defect with road surfacing is potholes, which can appear without warning on any standard of road.

We also operate a system of inspections. Defects are categorised depending on their severity:

  • Defects posing an immediate danger to the public are inspected and actioned within 24 hours
  • All other defects are inspected and repaired by a date specified by the inspector

It is likely that defects will occur between inspections and members of the public play an important role in alerting us to the appearance of a defect.

Reinstatement of the road surface following a duct or pipe being laid by a utility company remains that company’s responsibility. We do not inspect reinstatements to ensure they are satisfactory - if you are aware of a failure in a utility reinstatement, please contact us.

Footpaths

We are responsible for over 1300km of footpaths (sometimes called pavements).

To maintain footpaths in a safe condition and free from trip hazards, regular inspections are carried out.

It is likely that defects will occur between inspections and members of the public play an important role in alerting us to the appearance of a defect.

Please keep your footpaths in a safe condition by not parking any vehicle on a footway.

Parking on footpaths can:

  • Force pedestrians, wheelchair users and people with pushchairs onto the road where they are at risk of collision with motor vehicles
  • Cause particular problems for people with poor eyesight and/or people with mobility difficulties
  • Outside schools, cause difficulties for children trying to see oncoming vehicles
  • Cause damage, which adds to maintenance costs

What can happen:

  • Driving along the footpaths is an offence for which you can be fined
  • Parking on footpaths can cause an obstruction, which is an offence
  • You can be charged for the costs of repairing damage to footpaths and any services, pipes or cables that result from your driving or parking on a footpath

Dropped kerbs are provided at driveways to allow vehicles to safely cross the footpath. If you require drop kerbs at an access or driveway you must get permission from us.
It is an offence to carry out works to a footpath without the prior authorisation from us.

Road excavation

Anyone who wishes to excavate in a road (including footpaths) requires permission from us. To request this, please apply for road excavation permission.

Drainage

We maintain gullies and drainage channels on public roads and footways. The purpose of road drainage is to take rainwater run-off from the road or footpath.

Occasionally gullies become blocked, or covers are broken or missing and require additional maintenance.

Most manhole covers within the road are the responsibility of the public utilities. You can often recognise which utility is responsible by identification letters on the cover:

If you are unsure who is responsible for a defective cover you can contact us and we will investigate and notify the appropriate utility company.

We are also the Local Flood Authority and as such can have a part to play in flooding outwith the road boundary.

Verges

We maintain approximately 10,000km of rural roadside verges, along with the verges in urban areas.

Following a comprehensive review of service delivery, a proposal to alter the verge maintenance regime was approved at the Full Council meeting on 25 November 2010.

The regime will consist of one full cut of the entire network, with a possible second treatment at junctions and some identified visibility splays where this is deemed necessary. The commencement date for the grass cutting has been set to maximise the control of the vegetation height.

The maintenance regime and schedule is as follows:

  • Full cut (visibility/junction/verge swathe cut) - early-June to mid-July
  • Further cutting to junction/visibility as instructed - August to September
  • The full width verge cutting regime will be carried out over a 6-year rolling programme

This regime is intended to reduce the quantity of cutting, without compromising road safety. An additional benefit is that this will support our ongoing commitment to increase maintenance regimes that improve biodiversity. The impact of the regime will be closely monitored.