October 20, 2011 3.06 pm This story is over 148 months old

Gritters go out as first frost sets in

Frosty: The gritters went out on Thursday morning to spread salt, as the first frost has set in countywide.

Lincolnshire County Council sent out the gritters this morning to spread salt, as the first frost has set in the county.

The gritters went out in Lincoln on October 20 at 4am and finished around 7am, as the temperature dropped to -1 Celsius last night.

Darrell Redford, Winter Maintenance Engineer, said: “Depending on how much we salt, it can be anything between 140 tonnes (on a mild night) to 400 tonnes countywide in a severe snow situation.”

“Most runs are on the lower end of the scale – between 140 tonnes and 280 tonnes,” Redford explained.

With the first salt spreading beginning so early in the year, the council is stocking up on salt ahead of a possible harsh winter.

“A total of 27,000 tonnes have been taken to the depots, which are full to the rafters,” Redford said.

“This leaves 15,000 tonnes at Immingham docks ready to be transported when needed. This gives us 42,000 tonnes in total.”

As previously reported, a cargo ship brought a load of 20,000 tonnes of salt all the way from Egypt to Immingham Docks in September.

There are eight salt depots around Lincolnshire, in Willingham Woods, Sturton by Stow, Manby, Horncastle, Pode Hole, Boston Chainbridge, Thurlby and Ancaster.