August 30, 2012 1.54 pm This story is over 139 months old

Council buys more gritters and salt for winter

Gritter flitter: The County Council is preparing for winter with new gritters and bigger salt reserves.

Lincolnshire County Council ordered 15 new gritters and 15,000 tonnes of Egyptian salt ahead of this winter.

Three of the new gritters are 10-tonne DAF models, designed for pedestrian areas or narrow urban roads, which will replace the current gritters at Manby, Boston Chainbridge and Sturton.

The other 12 26-tonne gritters will replace machines at Boston Chainbridge, Horncastle and Pode Hole highways depots.

At present, just over a third of Lincolnshire roads are gritted by 43 gritters — this includes all A and B roads.

The latest arrival of salt brings the reserves up to 35,000 tonnes — just in case of another winter like 2009-2012, in which 34,000 tonnes of salt was used.

Executive Member for Highways and Transportation, Councillor William Webb, said: “We’re more than ready for anything that comes our way.

“This year, we have more salt than we have ever needed before. We’re also making sure our gritters are in tip top condition and replacing some of the older vehicles.

“Remember there are things you can do too. Why not see whether your local parish council has a winter resilience self-help plan in place to help support what we do.

“Perhaps you can volunteer to salt the roads and footpaths where you live to help keep people moving safely? Or you may have access to shovels or a large vehicle to assist with towing if required.”

From mid-October, the Gritter Twitter will be fired up again, which will inform users on the status of gritters in the county and answer questions.

Source: Lincolnshire County Council