Lack of personnel in the fight against potholes
25.07.2024 – In the first half of 2023, 453 road defects were recorded by the Stadtservice's road maintenance team, 387 of which were filled in the first six months. This year, the balance does not look so good at first: Of the 384 damages recorded by June 30, only 147 had been repaired by the middle of the year. The reason: the civil engineering department of the municipal utilities is lacking a crew, half of the manpower available last year, to repair road damage.
"This is a problem outside of the budget situation," says the responsible department head, city treasurer Martin Wilhelm. "The shortage of skilled workers is now also being felt by the municipal utilities. We very much regret that we are unable to repair the road damage as quickly as usual and hope that this will soon be possible again."
"Since last week, we have now commissioned a company that is exclusively responsible for repairing potholes," says Peter Walther, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Offenbach Holding. "Since then, the work has been progressing well and we hope to have reached a good status soon. However, we are keeping our eye on the ball to recruit our own specialists who we can deploy for such tasks all year round."
Few applicants for apprenticeships
For many years, Stadtservice has been trying - in addition to job advertisements for experienced specialists - to train junior staff itself, taking part in training fairs, the Offenbach Training Night and offering internships.
"We now also have young colleagues in our ranks who we have successfully trained ourselves. There could be more, but the demand is low," says Melanie Gessner, head of the civil engineering department at Stadtwerke. "Asphalt work not only requires the skills to permanently fill a pothole so that road users are not shaken when driving over it, but also individual resilience to be able to carry out this physical work. For most young people, coming straight from school to work on the road all day in all weathers is a tough cut. They'd rather look for a job that's a bit more comfortable and go to the gym in the evening."
Some road sections need to be completely renovated
However, there are also other reasons why one or two potholes continue to gape in the asphalt even after the contracted company has been deployed. "If there are too many potholes in a particular section of road, it doesn't make sense to repair each one individually. Instead, the entire asphalt would have to be renewed. However, the budget does not allow us to tackle all the roads that need to be repaired straight away. That's why we have to prioritize," says Heiko Linne, Operations Manager at ESO Stadtservice GmbH.
In 2024, a total of 40,000 square meters of roadway and cycle paths in the city area will be renewed. "This year, the municipal utilities have 2.5 million euros at their disposal for the renovation of roads, footpaths and cycle paths - twice as much as last year. However, the budget situation does not allow for a larger budget for new asphalt," says City Treasurer Martin Wilhelm, the department head responsible for Stadtservice.
In addition to the potholes, 303 sidewalk defects and 214 other defects - such as damaged signs or posts - were recorded by the street walkers in the first half of 2024, which have to be repaired by the Civil Engineering Department. The Civil Engineering department also looks after the cycle paths and cycle lanes and ensures greater safety by aligning manhole covers.