This year’s gritting routine is a routebased forecasting system which is used to decide when and where to salt the gritting network – down to the exact routes needing treatment.
This more targeted approach reduces emissions from fewer lorry movements. It uses less rock salt, which is a finite resource, and it will save money by reducing the number of gritting runs needed.
The road network monitored over the winter is not changing, but the forecast system used to make gritting decisions is.
Previously, gritting routes were put into four ‘domains’ with an entire domain being treated. In winter 2019/20, a route-based forecasting system would have saved 110 lorry
movements, at least 880 tonnes of salt and over £20,000.
A route-based approach to gritting will also enable a future move towards dynamic spreading, where a variable spread-rate of salt can be used on the same route, helping the environment and saving money.
