Council gritting teams have been busier than ever keeping Carmarthenshire’s main roads open during the most prolonged cold spell in the UK for 20 years.
Crews have been working over the whole of Christmas and New Year to make sure the county’s main road network is as safe as possible.
The council sets aside £1 million every year as part of its winter maintenance programme to keep the county’s roads as safe as possible.
In Carmarthenshire there are around 3,526 kilometres of road and once the decision to salt the roads is taken, approximately 996 kilometres are treated usually within three hours.
The council has a large fleet of specialist vehicles with highly-skilled NVQ accredited drivers and staff are on standby 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the winter months in order to respond to the ever changing weather and road conditions.
In addition there are out of hours duty officers on standby throughout the winter who monitor the weather and make decisions on appropriate gritting action.
Executive board member for technical services Councillor Haydn Jones has thanked the crews for all their hard work over the last month.
He said: “The executive board want to thank everyone who has really gone the extra mile in an effort to keep as many roads as possible open to traffic. We appreciate very much everyone’s efforts, including the administration staff who have dealt with a high volume of calls during the last few days.
“I would like to thank personally all the gritting teams , who, I know, are well supported by other technical services manual employees, for their excellent work and total devotion to duty over such a long period, especially throughout the festive holiday.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does Carmarthenshire have enough salt to cope with the current weather and expected continuing freezing conditions?
Carmarthenshire has increased its salt stock this winter following last year’s fears of a salt shortage. Last winter’s cold snap saw many councils in England and Wales having to ration supplies. Although Carmarthenshire was unaffected as it had enough reserves in hand, the council has increased its salt stock by 12 per cent this year as a precautionary measure.
However, due to the cold spell across the UK, supplies are short and there is heavy demand.
Like all local authorities we are conserving stocks to ensure that the primary routes are covered – this is 30 per cent of Carmarthenshire’s road network. I’m sure residents understand that the most important thing when supplies are under pressure is to keep the main roads clear in the interests of emergency services, bus services, continuity of food and fuel supplies and to minimise the risk of accidents. We also respond to emergencies and we will tackle side roads when prevailing weather conditions and salt supplies permit.
Has any extra grit/salt been received in the last week?
Yes. We have had a number of deliveries in the past few days and we are expecting more over the next few days as well.
How do salt levels compare with recent years?
We have increased out salt stock by 12 per cent this year, however, in previous years we have been able to meet demand. This is because we carefully monitor usage rates and top-up supplies as and when we need to.
Was Carmarthenshire Council prepared for the cold weather?
Yes, we have a well developed Winter Maintenance Plan which identifies priorities and how they are dealt with. At the start of every winter we are fully stocked with supplies and we top them up when required. There has been pressure on supplies in the past weeks because of extreme cold weather across the UK. Our gritting crews have been working very hard over the last few weeks, including the Christmas and New Year period keeping the roads clear and we thank them for their commitment. We receive daily updates from the Met Office on weather and conditions as well as two to five day forecasts and up to 15 days range forecast.
What hours have the gritting teams been working in recent days? Is it a 24-hour operation?
There is 24-hour availability, seven days a week. Gritting teams go out at times that are dependent on the weather including late night and during the early hours of the morning. We grit around 996 kilometres in one shift, that’s 30 per cent of the road network in Carmarthenshire.
Where does the council get its salt from?
We are supplied by Salt Union, a company based in Cheshire, which supplies a large number of local authorities in Wales and the UK as a whole. We work regionally in collaboration with other local authorities to maintain supplies. Due to the extreme weather conditions recently, the Welsh Assembly Government is providing an all-Wales stock holding list to salt suppliers so that they can prioritise deliveries to local authorities.
