Gritters step up a gear ahead of winter weather

Trucks use 70 tonnes of rocksalt for each gritting run

- 

CHESHIRE West and Chester Council's highways team has moved up a gear to be winter ready and keep the road network running smoothly during the coming colder months.

The Highways Service and its maintenance contractor, Colas, are always ready to tackle cold weather conditions.

The fleet of 16 gritting trucks keeps 515 miles of roads safe for drivers, using 70 tonnes of rocksalt for each gritting run to treat key routes across the borough - the same weight as 10 elephants.

Primary routes are gritted first which include A roads, other main roads and routes to hospitals and other important sites. In periods of continued bad weather secondary routes are sometimes gritted when the primary network is fully treated and if resources are available.

Road surface temperature and whether the road is wet or dry determines what grit treatment is needed — not the air temperature.

The grit spread on roads is actually rock salt, which mixes with any moisture to create a saline solution. Saline solutions freeze at a lower temperature than water, so frost and ice doesn't form on the road.