Rodney Stevens
Motorists are being warned to be on the lookout for potholes on roads around the Clarence Valley with local workshops repairing more than 12 tyres on Monday and Tuesday last week.
A Clarence Valley tradesman, who asked not to be named, told the CV Independent one workshop alone repaired 12 blown tyres from the same pothole approaching Yamba.
“On Monday and Tuesday, we repaired 12 tyres and six of those came off rims that were damaged by one pothole on Yamba Road,” the man said.
“We had 12 tyres and six rims that were wrecked in just two days, one of those rims cost over $600 second hand, so the total cost ran into the thousands, it’s probably $10,000 worth of damage all up.”
The man said motorists reported hitting a large pothole when approaching Yamba along Yamba Road, just before Shallow Channel and blowing their tyres out.
Two weeks ago, when I was travelling along the same stretch of Yamba Road, I saw a lady driving slowly into Yamba with a blown front passenger tyre.
Last Wednesday, Clarence Valley Council staff patched the offending pothole on Yamba Road, and roadworks are ongoing on Yamba Road at Yamba and Palmers Island to improve the road surface.
The man said a lot of cars have low profile tyres, which provide little protection when they hit a large pothole at 80km/h or more.
“If you have low profile tyres and you hit a pothole, you’ll damage your rims because there is no give in the tyre and hitting large potholes just dents the rims,” the man said.
Since the 2022 floods, I have replaced six blown tyres from potholes on Northern Rivers roads due to my low-profile tyres smashing into large potholes.
The CV Independent contacted workshops across the Clarence Valley and were told blown tyres and damaged rims were reported weekly at many businesses.
One workshop told the CV Independent they repair an average of between 2 and 4 blown tyres a week, with blowouts causing rim damage, buckles and cracks.
They said many of the blown tyres they encounter occurred on Wooli Road or Old Glen Innes Road, with some being caused by potholes and other by screws stuck in tyres.
Another workshop said after the 2022 floods they were repairing an average of one blown tyre a day, most with damaged rims, with some tourists having to hire a car so they can travel around the area while their car is repaired.
“A lot of people are coming in reporting that their tyre is losing air, and when we look there are dents on the inside of the rim that need repairing,” an employee said.
Another workshop reported repairing at least one blown tyre a week from potholes, and regularly finding damaged rims from potholes.
Clarence Valley Council provides weekly updates of roadworks around the Valley on its Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/clarencevalleycouncil.