How we maintain our roads and drains

Find out what we do to look after our roads and drains.

Roads

Every year we treat our roads to help them stay:

• free of potholes
• skid-proof 
• water-proof

Most of the work we do is called surface dressing.

We spray the road with a hot, tar-like material called bitumen, cover it with stone chippings, and roll the road to make it flat. We do this each summer. 

We also treat some roads with micro asphalt , a cold bitumen material. 

You can report a damaged road or footpath.

Drains and gullies  

We aim to clean every drain or gully in Bristol at least once a year.  

Our yearly work helps us to:

• make sure we clear every drain in Bristol
• get data on the condition and silt levels of individual gullies. 
• target problem areas, so we don’t visit gullies that don’t need cleaning as often

We still respond to emergencies if there is an immediate danger to the public or a risk to property.