Council resources in winter - popular questions
This page has been populated
with details about our resources and what resilience
we have to keep the borough moving during severe winter
conditions.
We hope we're able to answer your question
here, but if you need more help please call us on 0845 121 2979 or
email winter.service@rochdale.gov.uk.
Gritters
We have a fleet of 7 state of the art gritters (also known
as spreaders) which are supplied by ECON - the UK's leading supplier of
winter maintenance equipment.
Our fleet of gritters have a ‘low throw’ spreading device which
distributes the salt on the road at a lower level than the
traditional gritters. This ensures that the majority of the
salt is kept on the roads and minimises the amount of salt which
bounces up and hits cars.
All the gritters are fitted with a GPS tracking system which
provides live and archived data. The tracking system lets us
know the exact route the gritters have travelled, the start and
finish time of the treatment, the speed they travelled at, the
extent of the road they treated and the amount of salt which was
spread on the roads, amongst other vital information.
Our fleet of gritters also have demountable snow ploughs which
can be fitted to clear snow from the highway.
Salt supply
Ahead of winter 2011/12 we ordered and
received 7,500 tonnes of rock salt which is being stored and
covered over to protect it from the weather and to preserve its
quality.
We have a restocking arrangement with our
supplier, Salt Union, who will maintain our stocks throughout the
winter period. The amount we stock will reduce towards the end of
the winter as the risk of snow and ice diminishes.
Salt storage depot
We have a highways winter service depot in Castleton where 4,000
tonnes of rock salt is stored throughout the high risk period of
December, January and February.
A restocking arrangement is in place with our supplier, Salt
Union, who will maintain our stocks throughout the winter period.
The amount we stock will reduce towards the end of the winter as
the risk of snow and ice diminishes.
The stockpile is covered to protect it from the weather and
prevent the rock salt from deteriorating.
Winter staffing
We have a contract with Balfour Beatty for them to
provide the highways winter service on a 24 hour basis
throughout the whole winter season from mid October to mid
April.
The winter service is also coordinated within the wider
council so other services are able to provide resources where
needed during extreme winter weather events.