This in from Island Roads in their own words. Ed
Between November 1 and March 31, Island Roads performed 21 salting runs across all gritting routes.
636 tonnes of salt
This meant 636 tonnes of salt was laid on a total of 10,233 km of highway by a winter maintenance fleet of ten vehicles based at the new purpose built depot at Stag Lane, Newport.
The main gritting lorries were named by local school children.
21 drivers
All gritting runs took place between 7pm and 2am and crews were mobilised based on information received from location-specific weather forecasts and additional data collected by Island Roads’ own equipment.
The gritting operation was carried out by a total of 21 drivers and five supervisors.
Surplus of salt if needed
Though the winter maintenance season is officially over, Island Roads will naturally respond should the Island receive any unseasonably cold weather. It has a surplus of salt at its Stag Lane depot should the need arise.
Steve Jenkins, Island Roads operations manager, said:
“We have invested heavily in vehicles and in the new depot to allow us to deliver a comprehensive winter maintenance service over the course of the PFI contract and I’m pleased to say our first season providing winter maintenance was completed successfully.
“We know from comments received that our efforts in periods of freezing weather were appreciated. We will continue to review the operation and make improvements where necessary as keeping the network open and safe during difficult weather is a priority for us.”
Image: Jamie-May Medway of St Georges School with ‘Snowy’ the gritter she named
