The team over at Island Roads are preparing their fleet of gritters for the upcoming Winter season.
With the Summer long gone and Autumn well underway, its all hands to the pump at the Stag Lane depot ahead of what promises to be a busy 4 or 5 months.
Brought over to the Island from the mainland, deliveries of gritting salt begin in August and it takes around 20 deliveries to get supplies back up to full capacity following the end of the season in March. Around 1,600 tonnes is stored ready for use when the mercury plummets.
The 4 Mercedes gritting lorries at the disposal of Island Roads service around 43% of the Island’s roads, with smaller, harder to reach areas and roads inaccessible to the HGV’s serviced by a single specially-adapted Mercedes van.
Speaking to Island Echo, Dave Wallis, Operations & Maintenance Manager at Island Roads, has said:
“It’s not practical to treat every road on the Island, I don’t think any county has the resources for that.
“The national average of roads gritted per area is around 35% and we exceed that by looking at places like schools and emergency service centres. The routes haven’t changed since 2013.”
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All gritting lorries are fitted with pre-wet technology which sprays salt with a brine solution prior to spreading, limiting salt drifting onto grass verges or hedges and helps the salt stick to the road
The time at which gritting is conducted is determined mainly by the weather forecast, with decisions made using weather stations in Calbourne and Brading that regularly track the forecast. Taken 3 times a day, it is decided by around midday whether a gritting run is the best course of action. If needed, runs are to be completed within a specific 4-hour slot and grit is supposed to hit the ground before the temperature reaches its coldest point.
A total of 25 drivers in the Island Roads workforce have completed sufficient training to allow them to drive a gritter, with the training to do so more rigorous and complex than people expect.
On what it takes to be become a driver, Dave said:
“All our drivers have to hold a HGV licence. Further to that they have to undertake a City & Guilds Winter Service Operations 6159 qualification which involves both in class training, health and safety and vehicle maintenance as well as a practical test.”
Despite its heavy load, gritters don’t actually have to travel at a set speed, instead the spreader at the rear of the vehicle adjusts its speed as the vehicle accelerates and decelerates.
Motorists are being advised that despite roads being gritted, during spells of adverse weather, drivers should still continue to drive with extreme caution.
For more information about Island Roads’ Winter Service programme, click here.
Pity Island Roads don’t gear up to resurface Alpine Road and lower Zig Zag Road in Ventnor before a cyclist or motocyclist gets killed because of the condition of the surface. How Island Roads can have the cheek to say that the current surface is still fit for purpose I know not.
Because its not joe blogs standing there scratching his head going “well it looks okay to me”,unfortunately they are governed by highway legislation and classification if island roads were to do it without it being classed as needing to be done they won’t get paid ,they can recommend but ultimately its down to the council to approve
Bit dramatic, drive or ride to the conditions and your be fine. It’s a bit bumpy but far from dangerous! Typically Ventnor people thinking their roads are the worst, fed up with people moaning but there’s no money in the kitty.
Why do people always slate island roads? The roads get repaired much much quicker than on mainland. Keep up the good work guys!