Winter Gritting

What is winter maintenance?

We aim to help make sure our roads are safe for road users and keep traffic moving by:

• Spreading salt to prevent ice forming or to help thaw ice and snow
• Clearing snow where more than 5 cm has accumulated on roads.

Our gritting vehicles

We operate nine gritting vehicles plus one spare to cover breakdowns. We also use a land rover and trailer to grit areas that are difficult to reach.

30 volunteer drivers carry out the gritting work in addition to their normal day job.  The drivers work for the city council Highways, Waste Collection and Ground and Cleansing sections. Each driver must be City and Guilds trained to carry out Winter Maintenance/Gritting work.

Salt/grit stocks

There are three stock piles of salt/grit based at Booth Street, Cromer Road and Federation Road.  At the start of the Winter season 200 tonnes are stored at Cromer Road, 1500 tonnes at Federation Road and 379 tonnes at Booth Street. This is sufficient for us to turn out 35 to 45 times during the season depending on the weather.

Salt/grit spread rates

Spread rates depend on the weather conditions. In frost conditions we spread at a rate of 10grms per m2, in ice conditions we spread at 20grms per m2 and when it snows we spread at 2 X 20grms per m2 for up to 50mm of snow. Above this level ploughs are used.

Where do we treat?

Around 550 miles of roads are treated when all our vehicles are used.  All major roads are treated. Main bus routes plus some infrequent bus routes which are part of the main network are treated.

We also have around 350 self help salt bins located around the city. These are filled when required during the season.

How are decisions made?

The duty officer/decision maker decides whether to turn out or not.  He/she visits the Met Office weather prediction website each morning before making a decision. The prediction service tells us the likely road surface temperature, air temperature, rain prediction, wind prediction and direction and the likelihood of snow and frost. There are also sensors in the surface of key roads around the county which help us make more informed decisions.

Plans for the future

We plan to install tracking devices in all vehicles by the end of this season. This will enable us to track where our vehicles are and identify what they are doing.

Contact us

For more information please call 01782 234234 or e-mail enquiries@stoke.gov.uk