The story behind potholes?
The real issue is not the seal on the top, which show up as 'pot holes', but more the foundations underneath. The foundations move under the weight and speed of the vehicles, which we see as cracks on the surface, which due to more heavy truck end up as being potholes. Add a few rainfalls filling the cracks, Bingo!! potholes.
The foundation moving causes the top seal to crack and no amount of patching up potholes will work for any length of time as the surface now has a weakness. Eventually, the road has to be reconstructed with new foundations.
The GVT and councils expect to reseal the top layer as it will wear out, but once the foundation ceases to be solid, the top will continue to crack and potholes become a major problem for ratepayers.
Most of this is due to allowing Heavy Truck 20% heavier to use roads that were not built for them and using efficiency and cost savings to justify the change. This produced 'UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES'
The Gvt has to give Transport Companies a return on their investment $$$ for their political backing.
The GVT is now working on SPEED for more EFFICIENCIES and 'UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES' should not be unexpected this time.
"SPEED KILLs" so expect it to kill more even on motorways, especially Urban motorways.
This is my opinion backed up with obvious examples.
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.5% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.7% Critical thinking
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30.1% Resilience and adaptability
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2.7% Other - I will share below!
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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