FIFTEEN minutes is all it takes now to fix a pothole in Selangor with the newly launched Jetpatcher, a spray injection road repair vehicle.
State infrastructure and agriculture committee chairman Izham Hashim said the machine would expedite road repair works, especially potholes.
“It takes about 15 minutes with Jetpatcher, which is four to five times faster than our conventional method,” he said during the unveiling of the UK technology at Dataran Pahlawan, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Building in Shah Alam.
“Previously, we break up the road and manually pour in cold and hot mix on the road.
“Now, the vehicle has a 2.5m³ mixture capacity that can patch up to 80 potholes.
“Currently, 15 personnel are being trained to use the machine,” he added.
Owned by Infrasel Sdn Bhd, a fully-owned subsidiary of Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB), the Jetpatcher technology maintains the hot mix at 45°C, which provides a stronger bond when applied to the road.
This road repair vehicle costs RM1mil.
“We will start using the Jetpatcher in Kuala Selangor, which has more urgent road repairs,” said Izham.
“The process is simpler and more cost-efficient compared to the conventional method.
“It also has lower carbon emissions, making it more environmentally friendly.
“We are still testing the Jetpatcher currently, and if it performs well, we will consider adding more vehicles,” he said.
The event also saw the launch of the Mega Road Resurfacing 2.0 project, which is set to commence in early October and expected to be completed within two months.
This project is a continuation of the successful initial Mega Road Resurfacing project in 2023, with 118 works across nine Selangor districts.
“Resurfacing works prioritise roads requiring urgent maintenance to ensure the safety of users, and we have approved over RM20mil for the project.
“These roads involve routes managed by local authorities, district-level authorities, and Public Works Department,” said Izham.
Also present at the event were KSSB managing director and chief executive officer Abdul Rahman Ishak as well as KSSB operations head and Infrasel Sdn Bhd representative Mohamed Fariz Ghazali.