18 WINTER MAINTENANCE


DECEMBER 2013 Adaptability is key


With winter approaching Josh Sweeney, strategic marketing manager at Multihog UK, looks at the importance of adaptability within highway maintenance operations


First of all, let me begin with a declaration of my former naivety. Before working at Multihog UK, whilst studying at university, for me winter seemed bizarrely perceived as some sort of unoffi cial bank holiday on standby which was to be claimed at the fi rst sight of snow. It is now apparent of course that this was an opinion formulated on the basis of experiences in the education system, surrounded by students, rather than any reality.


Indeed, winter can be a woeful time to a number of people for a variety of reasons. Plummeting temperatures and heavy snow can cause extensive disruption to the transport network which in turn impacts on us all in some shape or form. It is estimated that the total cost of delayed journeys to both businesses and individuals is estimated to be around £280 million a day in England alone.


My fi rst winter working with Multihog emphasised the impact of ‘snow days’ (which I had previously viewed light- heartedly) on the local community and economy when director Nick Leadley volunteered a Multihog to plough and grit a rural village as it was unsafe for the local council’s conventional winter vehicles to access the narrow lanes.


At the time councillor Dave Harling, executive member for regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, stated: “The weather has caused real issues for local residents and now thanks to Nick, it is safer for people to get to and from their homes and school.”


In this instance, potential devastation and isolation were averted thanks to the resilience of a local fi rm but there is no doubt that winter maintenance planners always have a challenge on their hands because the weather, by its very nature, is volatile and inevitably adds to this. To me, this unpredictability associated with the British weather really accentuates the importance of an adaptable highway maintenance team and tools, especially for winter resilience.


Preparation from practice


David Mazurke is the group manager at Bradford Metropolitan District Council. He recently spoke at a winter maintenance event for public service excellence in which he explained how his local authority are prepared to overcome future challenges from these experiences.


He said: “Since the heavy snow back in February 2009 and the subsequent severe winter in 2010 Bradford Metropolitan District Council planned to increase their winter maintenance resilience.


“ The areas we looked at in detail were:


Salt stocks and salt usage Fleet improvement Route planning Footway gritting.


“Resilience has improved immensely since February 2009 but even the winter of 2012/13 presented the authority with a new challenge of the ever increasing discipline of winter maintenance.


“Back in March 2013 the whole country encountered its coldest March for 50 years. Easterly winds were forecast from as early as 21 March, to reach 40mph through the night and road surface temperatures dropping to as low as -10°C. By the time this weather front had reached high ground, the winds had turned into blizzard conditions of up to 50mph, blowing snow off the fi elds and onto the highways causing two to three foot high snowdrifts.”


Isolated communities


Mazurke adds: “On 24 March A classifi ed roads on high ground at 1,000 feet were closed. By the 25th


the highway maintenance section which I led was receiving reports from contact centres, police and ambulance services that across the district there were several isolated communities who could not leave their houses to travel to shops, etc. The NHS was also struggling to deliver essential medical supplies to vulnerable people in these isolated communities.


“One particular road in Bradford, aptly named Long Lane, is a mile in length and has a six to eight foot wall either side of the road which was covered in snow the whole length.”


Bradford’s winter maintenance section were then forced to call in emergency equipment as a last resort including backhoe loaders and local 4x4 tractors to clear the snow. It took over three days to reach the isolated community.


“If the section had in its fl eet a snow blower this community could have been reached in less than eight hours,” notes Mazurke. “Scores of roads in the area were not cleared until the Easter weekend and additional machinery was called in for snow clearance. So, despite our efforts to increase our winter maintenance resilience over the last four years we had not planned for isolated communities, but for 2013/14


www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68