New gritters wil help battle any cold snaps
Thursday, 11th December 2014.
Nine new Econ gritters have been purchased this year to replace ageing ones in Suffolk Highways’ fleet.
A further 29 gritters have been upgraded since the contract between Kier MG and the county council began, significantly improving the winter service provided across the county.
Suffolk Highways has 39 gritters each with an attachable snow plough and three ‘mini-gritters’ which are designed for areas with weight restrictions, for example bridges.
In addition, as part of the highways contract Kier MG can call on additonal vehicles, should they be required. There are 112 operators ready to help keep the county moving when temperatures drop and when there is snowfall.
There are 1,225 miles of priority one gritting routes which are treated in advance of predicted ice or snow. There are 34 priority one gritting routes taking two-and-a-half hours to complete.
When ice or snow is forecast to persist beyond 9am, a further 845 miles of priority two routes will be treated, so long as gritters are not needed on the priority one roads.
Further information on priority one and priority two routes can be found on the county council website: www.suffolk.gov.uk/salting-gritting-and-snow-clearing
In addition to the work of the county-wide Suffolk Highways, borough and district councils support the winter response by clearing snow off footways on priority one routes.
Farmers and local contractors are also on hand during periods of heavy snow to help keep the county moving with a range of equipment including powerful tractor ploughs, JCB type diggers and even snow blowers.
Decisions on whether to grit or not are based on information received about predicted road surface temperature which can be different to the air temperature, the latter being those that are generally reported on standard weather forecasts. On average gritters are out on the network 60 times during the winter period.
Suffolk Highways has stocks of almost 23,000 tonnes of salt. In addition to the gritters there are 34 snow ploughs which can be attached to the gritters in the event of heavy snowfall and a network of more than 2,000 community grit bins/heaps to enable people to help themselves in local communities.
Cllor Graham Newman, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for roads, transport and planning, said: “Although last year was not particularly cold the significant levels of rainfall caused the same, if not more, damage to the road network as extremely cold temperature.
"This was recognised by the Government and as a result Suffolk recieved almost £6million in additional funding to help make the necessary repairs.
“As well as making improvements to the road network across the county, Suffolk Highways is well prepared to deal with whatever rain, ice and snow that this winter brings.
“With nine new gritters joining the fleet and almost 23,000 tonnes of grit in salt barns across the county, everything possible has been done to ensure the county can keep moving safely throughout the winter period.”
In severe weather conditions Suffolk Highways control hub, located at the Kier MG offices in Ipswich, is the central control point for winter activities and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Hub will prioritise reports received from residents to make sure the gritters are working in the most efficient way to keep the county moving as safely as possible.
A pair of ‘velocity patchers’ are also helping Suffolk Highways to tackle pot holes across the county. Velocity patchers are able to fill a pot hole in around ten minutes compared to the more conventinal way which takes around 45 minutes.
The velocity patchers, on hire until the end of March next year, are just one way in which the council is using some of the £5.8 million provided by the Government to tackle the significant effects on the highway of last winters heavy rain. Suffolk Highways is also carrying out a comprehensive programme of resurfacing across the county.
Further useful information about being prepared for winter can be found on the county council’s website: www.suffolk.gov.uk/winter-are-you-prepared
For gritting updates follow Suffolk Highways on Twitter @suff_highways
A further 29 gritters have been upgraded since the contract between Kier MG and the county council began, significantly improving the winter service provided across the county.
Suffolk Highways has 39 gritters each with an attachable snow plough and three ‘mini-gritters’ which are designed for areas with weight restrictions, for example bridges.
In addition, as part of the highways contract Kier MG can call on additonal vehicles, should they be required. There are 112 operators ready to help keep the county moving when temperatures drop and when there is snowfall.
There are 1,225 miles of priority one gritting routes which are treated in advance of predicted ice or snow. There are 34 priority one gritting routes taking two-and-a-half hours to complete.
When ice or snow is forecast to persist beyond 9am, a further 845 miles of priority two routes will be treated, so long as gritters are not needed on the priority one roads.
Further information on priority one and priority two routes can be found on the county council website: www.suffolk.gov.uk/salting-gritting-and-snow-clearing
In addition to the work of the county-wide Suffolk Highways, borough and district councils support the winter response by clearing snow off footways on priority one routes.
Farmers and local contractors are also on hand during periods of heavy snow to help keep the county moving with a range of equipment including powerful tractor ploughs, JCB type diggers and even snow blowers.
Decisions on whether to grit or not are based on information received about predicted road surface temperature which can be different to the air temperature, the latter being those that are generally reported on standard weather forecasts. On average gritters are out on the network 60 times during the winter period.
Suffolk Highways has stocks of almost 23,000 tonnes of salt. In addition to the gritters there are 34 snow ploughs which can be attached to the gritters in the event of heavy snowfall and a network of more than 2,000 community grit bins/heaps to enable people to help themselves in local communities.
Cllor Graham Newman, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for roads, transport and planning, said: “Although last year was not particularly cold the significant levels of rainfall caused the same, if not more, damage to the road network as extremely cold temperature.
"This was recognised by the Government and as a result Suffolk recieved almost £6million in additional funding to help make the necessary repairs.
“As well as making improvements to the road network across the county, Suffolk Highways is well prepared to deal with whatever rain, ice and snow that this winter brings.
“With nine new gritters joining the fleet and almost 23,000 tonnes of grit in salt barns across the county, everything possible has been done to ensure the county can keep moving safely throughout the winter period.”
In severe weather conditions Suffolk Highways control hub, located at the Kier MG offices in Ipswich, is the central control point for winter activities and operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Hub will prioritise reports received from residents to make sure the gritters are working in the most efficient way to keep the county moving as safely as possible.
A pair of ‘velocity patchers’ are also helping Suffolk Highways to tackle pot holes across the county. Velocity patchers are able to fill a pot hole in around ten minutes compared to the more conventinal way which takes around 45 minutes.
The velocity patchers, on hire until the end of March next year, are just one way in which the council is using some of the £5.8 million provided by the Government to tackle the significant effects on the highway of last winters heavy rain. Suffolk Highways is also carrying out a comprehensive programme of resurfacing across the county.
Further useful information about being prepared for winter can be found on the county council’s website: www.suffolk.gov.uk/winter-are-you-prepared
For gritting updates follow Suffolk Highways on Twitter @suff_highways
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