Two Italian students, Domenico Diego and Cristina Corradini, have invented the high visibility potholes. They involve a brightly-colored layer of asphalt a few inches beneath the surface of the road. When a pothole is created, the yellow layer beneath gets exposed so it become more visible and easier to avoid. The high visibility potholes will enter trials later this year Rho, a small town close to Milan. If the project is viable and cost effective, the high visibility potholes may become a standard in road building across Europe.
Milan Polytechnic student Diego said: “We have compared the road surface to the human skin - when we are wounded, we start to bleed. So our idea is to put a layer of yellow asphalt beneath
the tarmac, which appears and creates a high chromatic contrast that is visible from a distance.
“This way, the potholes are signaled as they appear and road users have enough time to react safely.”
So is why build better roads, when you can have more visible potholes?
