Gritting priority routes
The council is responsible for 1400 miles of local roads in Argyll and Bute. BEAR Scotland maintains the trunk roads (A82, A83, A85 and A828) on behalf of Transport Scotland.
When freezing conditions are forecast the council deploys 33 gritters to treat over 750 miles of road - thats over half of the entire network. It's about the same distance as driving from Lochgilphead to Paris.
Routes are based on priority, focusing on the roads with the most amount of traffic. Our roads team follow this plan carefully to make sure the main routes are treated first.
If a road is not part of a winter gritting route, it is highly unlikely that it will be gritted, unless in an emergency.
If it is really icy and if we have the resources, we will try and grit footways in the busy town centres - but only after we’ve gritted the roads.
Grit bins and heaps are placed at key locations throughout the area to allow communities to help themselves and are refilled when possible. It is highly unlikely that we will be able to add grit bins, but we may be able to place grit heaps in isolated locations which become problematic this year
We would love to be able to treat every mile of local road and footway in the area but we simply don’t have the resources or manpower to do so.
Do you grit roads which are bus routes?
Yes, bus routes are classed as priority two routes. This means that additional sections of lower classification roads along with A and B class roads linking population centres are treated.
Are rural schools routes gritted?
Yes, we do treat roads to the school gates but it is not possible to treat the start of every journey that reaches a school.
Does the council salt pavements?
We do not do any pre-treatment of pavements. We only salt pavements in hazardous conditions when there is frost, ice, snow and it is persistent.
With hundreds of miles of pavements in Argyll and Bute, salting every single one is simply not feasible – our efforts have to be concentrated on areas that will benefit the most people.
Footway treatment routes are worked out by priority as well.
- Priority one covers urban shopping areas and precincts.
- Priority two covers other areas of high pedestrian concentration like in the vicinity of hospitals and schools.
- Priority three covers steep hills in housing developments and in the vicinity of residential homes for the elderly.
If hazards remain and we have resources available, treatment of other footways may be carried out after this.
Can it get too cold for salt to work?
Yes. Salt will work at temperatures down to -8/-10 degrees Celsius. Below that salted roads will still freeze.
Salt added to the road works by lowering the temperature at which water freezes. It relies on vehicle tyres to spread the salt over the road and mix it in with the snow and ice, so requires traffic to be effective.
How many gritters do we have and how much grit can they spread?
We have 33 vehicles capable of gritting and ploughing roads. We have another 8 secondary vehicles bringing the total number of snowploughs to 41.
We have 31 routes that need gritters and ploughs for pre treatment ahead of freezing conditions. We currently have 3 spare vehicles to cover breakdown and further vehicles available from contractors if needed.
The 3 spares together with the secondary vehicles will be used as backup in times of persistent bad conditions.
These vehicles can carry between 2 and 11 tonnes of salt.
How does the salting process work?
We use six-millimetre crushed rock salt to melt ice or prevent it from forming on the roads. Usually this is spread onto the road using a purpose-built machine mounted onto a lorry.
The spreaders are designed to give an even distribution of salt across the road and spread the salt at a controlled rate.
To prevent ice from forming, we spread salt at 10-15 grammes per square metre. More is needed to melt ice which has already formed and so, the rate of spread is increased to 20-40 grammes per square metre to achieve this. The lorries also have fittings to allow a snow plough to be fitted when needed.
Are the gritters ready for use?
Yes, they are all serviced, tested and calibrated. We do a dry run in October to make final checks to equipment and to drive routes and mount ploughs.
Which agencies are responsible for winter roads maintenance in Argyll and Bute?
Argyll and Bute Council maintains public roads in our area.
Bear Scotland look after the trunk roads (A82, A85, A828, and the A83) in the area on behalf of Transport Scotland
Arrangements with companies
Some councils have arrangements with farmers and plant hire companies to use their services at short notice for snow clearance work. Does Argyll and Bute Council?
We use local plant hire companies to supply labour and equipment such as diggers to clear snow to assist with this work. This includes farmers in some districts.
