As temperatures fall and winter tightens its grip, Lincolnshire County Council has confirmed its winter gritting fleet is primed and ready to keep roads across the county moving safely.
While many residents are tucked up in bed during the coldest, darkest hours, the council’s highways teams are preparing for what is one of the biggest annual operations on the local road network. A fleet of 47 gritters stands ready to treat priority routes across Lincolnshire’s vast 5,500-mile highway network whenever conditions demand.
Salt stocks are already in place, with around 30,000 tonnes stored across eight depots countywide. In particularly cold spells, gritters may be deployed several times a day to help reduce the risk of ice forming on key roads used by motorists, public transport and emergency services.
Gritting operations are typically triggered when road surface temperatures fall to around 0.5°C. When this happens, crews aim to cover nearly 2,000 miles of priority routes, including all A and B roads, at least one route into every main town and village, and roads serving hospitals, schools, bus stations and railway stations.
In addition to road treatments, residents are reminded that grit bins are available for use on public footpaths and roads during icy conditions.
Darrell Redford, Lincolnshire County Council’s Network Resilience Manager, is the person with the daunting task of looking after the gritter fleet. Part technical marvel, part weather whisperer, he’s the expert on all things gritty and chilling.
He said: “Looking after the roads in severe temperatures is a really complex job but we know what we’re doing and we’re ready to get out to increase grip. Our team is out in all hours to make the roads safer across the colder months.
“Our drivers are very talented at what they do. To back them up we use a host of data and live information to work out when and where to spread the right amount of salt – the men and women of the gritting team, plus that vital information is a combination that’s effective and efficient in keeping roads open in the worst conditions.
“It’s very clear that what we do with our gritting programme is important for everyone on the roads, but a large part of road safety also relies on everyone on the roads to drive in the right way for the conditions. It’s a simple message to all: be safe, be aware and be kind to other road users.”
Council data shows the scale of the operation: on average, around 20,000 tonnes of salt are used each winter, with the most extreme season being the 2010/11 winter when 38,000 tonnes were spread during prolonged severe cold. Weather conditions are monitored continuously using 12 weather stations across Lincolnshire, alongside additional data shared with neighbouring counties, helping teams to predict when and where treatment is needed.
Darrell adds: “We have a lot of data coming to us all the time. We have our own 12 weather stations in Lincolnshire that we use and we also get information from another eight outside of the county that aren’t ours, but we use them as part of data share with other areas.
“This live reporting is very accurate and really helps us predict what weather fronts are moving across the area. There are two stations in each domain, which are: the Wolds, the Coast, Grantham and Grantham Ridge, Lincoln Ridge and the Fens.”
Whilst some might think that Lincolnshire is fairly flat and consistent in temperature across the county, the reality is that values at ground level can vary wildly. The undulating landscape causes a wide range of temperature values to deal with.
“We see temperatures in the Wolds drop dramatically. They can go down a lot,” adds Darrell: “And across the fens temperatures tends to remain quite high.”
This exact level of critical live information means that the gritting team can be equally as exact about when, and where, they put the salt down. The lower the temperature, the more salt is needed for a specific spreading area.
He continues: “We have something called route-based forecasting where each route has its own forecast, based on the specific domains. This means that we can send out the appropriate gritters for the appropriate areas as needed. That alone save us a lot of money and resource.
“It’s very important that we know what areas are at what temperatures too. When the road temperature is down to -2 we spread 7g of salt per square metre, between -2 and -5 we salt at 12g, at -5 to -10 that figure goes up to 17g of spread and when snow is on the road, or the temperature is lower than -10 then we go to the maximum 20g per square metre. Knowing exactly where, when and how much salt to spread anywhere in the county is an exact science and it saves us a lot of cash.”
During periods of prolonged snowfall, ploughs can be fitted to gritters, and farmers or specialist contractors may also be called upon to assist with snow clearance if required.
From October through to April, winter services teams work around the clock, guided by forecasts from the Met Office, as well as real-time road temperature and humidity data. Drivers are reminded that even when roads have been treated, surfaces can still be slippery, particularly in very low temperatures, strong winds or heavy rain, which can reduce the effectiveness of salt.
Residents are encouraged to plan journeys carefully, keep up to date with local weather warnings and allow extra time when travelling in icy conditions. Updates on gritting operations and road conditions are shared via the council’s highways channels throughout the winter season.
