Story of how a newly sealed Lismore road became potholed

NEWLY sealed road christened with ugly potholes within days of the $870,000 job's completion.

A STRETCH of Lismore-Kyogle Rd freshly resealed by Lismore City Council at a cost of $870,000 already has potholes - and you won't believe the reason why.

Locals in the Fernside area contacted The Northern Star over the collection of potholes which popped up just a few days after the resealing of the 1.2km stretch was completed last week.

Complaints were also made to the council over the matter.

Lismore City Council staff were initially skeptical but a works supervisor was sent to inspect the site yesterday afternoon.

According to the council, a local witness said a parked bus became bogged on the side of the road and a local farmer's tractor had come to its rescue and towed it out of the mud.

However, when the tractor attempted to tow the bus, it's huge rough tread wheels had ripped up the fresh seal as they spun.

Water then penetrated the roadbase, and compromised the seal even further, creating the potholes.

The council said the seal was still vulnerable until it had fully set.

If it had been a week later the tractor's wheels wouldn't have destroyed the surface.

Staff have been sent to patch up the damage today - however it won't be resealed from scratch as the money has already been spent.

Just what a bus was doing parked on the side of isolated stretch of 100kmh road is unknown.