It seems the 2017/18 winter has been one of the coldest in many years with over 9.5 thousand tonnes of grit being used to pre-treat and treat the road network to keep it safe to use. And we’re not finished yet as there’s a short cold spell due in the next few days which may see us top the 10,000 tonnes mark – which will only be the second time this has happened since 2005.
Gritting has taken place since the beginning of November which is extremely unusual in itself as there’s usually very few or even no need to call the gritting team into action before the Christmas period.
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“Increased storage capacity”
We often get asked if we have enough grit and the answer is yes – we now hold more than we did following lessons learned in 2010 when the UK as a whole ran very low on grit. We now have three salt barns – one in Chirk, one in Llay and one in Wrexham Industrial Estate. Having three means routes can be accessed quickly and it meant we could increase our storage capacity to 8,000 tonnes.
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Salt levels are kept topped up throughout the winter season in case severe weather sets in.
The amount of salt put down to keep the road safe does, however, have an effect on the road surface and many of you will be aware of the amount of potholes that are on the roads. We know these can be very frustrating for drivers which is why we are encouraging you to report them online.
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“Report potholes online”
Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for the Environment and Transport, said: “It’s been a long cold winter but hopefully spring is just around the corner once we get this next cold snap out of the way. Our staff have worked hard to make sure services were delivered as efficiently as possible and I would like to thank them this work. I would also encourage everyone who comes across potholes to report them online. We can’t resurface every road but we can fill the potholes in as a temporary measure. We do need to know where they are though and although we’re aware of issues through social media they really should be reported online. it’s easy to do and there’s a button above that will give quick and easy access.”
Take a look at some of the scenes that our gritters faced earlier this month:
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