A new kind of road surface might make potholes a thing of the past

You may have noticed Britain has a minor issue with its road quality. The good news is (in addition to the Special Pothole Fund the UK government created to nix the issue) the good folk of science have started trialling a graphene/asphalt combo to stop road craters developing in the first place.

In a collaboration between Universal Matter GBR and Tarmac, a UK road has been resurfaced with ‘Genable Pavement’ (sic), a graphene-based polymer composite, which the companies reckon will give road surfaces longer life, by "minimising cracks and increasing resistance to potholes".

It does this seemingly impossible task using an exciting process called Flash Joule Heating (FJH) to convert carbon to graphene. Know of graphene? Then you’ll know it’s super conductive, super durable, super thin, super flexible, 200 times stronger than steel, five times lighter than aluminium, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound... yadda, yadda.

By combining a graphene additive to over 150 tonnes of asphalt, not only does Flatts Lane Country Park in Teesside have a new pothole-free entrance, but the world can witness how long this particular section of road will stay intact. Will it defeat the scourge of the villainous pothole for good? We can but hope.

This won't be the last time you'll be hearing about graphene in a car context. In its portfolio, Universal Matter also sticks the stuff in concrete, paint and coatings and tyres. Plus, it's long been touted as the saviour for making electric car batteries last longer. While we wait for science though, pothole prevention seems a pretty reasonable priority.