Keeping Shropshire moving despite the snow

Shropshire Council officers and their highways contractors, Ringway, have now thoroughly thawed out following their work to keep the county moving throughout the recent freezing weather.

Between 18 and 26 January 2013, 25 gritters across the county did their rounds, spreading around 7,000 tonnes of salt.  Astonishingly, for six days during this period, gritting and snow ploughing took place 24 hours a day.

The council’s fleet of 25 gritters (and their drivers) look after all of the county’s A and B roads as well as some other high risk routes, such as those by schools and hospitals.  This equals 28 per cent of the highways network – 1,540km of road.

The rest of the network is looked after by 120 farmers/contractors, who deploy up to 200 tractor-mounted snowploughs, 25 tractor-mounted gritters and 12 snowblowers.

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for highways, said:

“I’ve been very impressed with the way everyone worked tirelessly to keep the county moving throughout the period of heavy snow and ice.  We’ve got plenty of salt left too, so we’re fully prepared for any further cold weather.”

So far this winter the council has used 14,298 tonnes of salt.  It has 14 100 tonnes left, with 2,200 tonnes on order.