Ready for winter
As winter approaches, we are preparing our
plans to keep the roads clear and deliver vital services to
residents.
We plan to be able to respond appropriately to
forecast weather conditions and have sufficient manpower and
resources available during periods of bad weather.
We use a combination of daily and weekly
reports from the Meteorological Office, information from our own
weather stations and a process of thermal mapping to make decisions
on where roads need to be treated.
There are 33 gritting vehicles serviced and
ready for use, including two new vehicles which will stationed in
the north of the county where conditions are usually more extreme.
There are two fitters on 24-hour emergency standby in each of the
three areas, north, west and south east to deal with any emergency
repairs.
At the end of October there were 38,000 tonnes
of salt in stock at 11 depots across the county. Last year 22,000
tonnes of salt were used. If necessary, additional salt can be
ordered throughout the season. More than 1600 salt bins are
provided at locations with steep gradients, exposed sites, steps or
difficult junctions. This allows residents to treat footpaths and
roads themselves during severe weather.
When dealing with heavy snowfall additional
support is also provided by farmers or heavy plant contractors in
some of the more rural areas.
We will provide clear information and timely
updates of changing conditions and the council’s response via our
alerts page at www.northumberland.gov.uk/alerts
and via social media channels:
facebook.com/nccalerts
on twitter @northumberlands.
The council information leaflet ‘Highway
Services in Winter’ is available at libraries, information centres
and contact centres.
