Just a few facts to slide over guys and gals.
There are only three locations where rock salt is mined in the UK, one is in Winsford/Middlewich and the queues of lorries from all over the country is miles long. They can't mine it fast enough but are working around the clock to keep up with demand.
The local authorities have reserves based on previous year's demands. They can only stock pile what they think they will require in that particular year because the rock salt will reduce its efficacy if stored long term.
Rock salt is almost ineffective below -6c and the colder it is the less it works. It also needs to be crushed under the wheels of vehicles and if it snows on top of it, depending on the temperature, it again reduces its effect. The longer it stays this cold, the less efficient it becomes.
Gritting routes are predetermined and agreed with all ememrgency services and the Dept for Transport and are usually along major and strategic roads. After those are done, the gritters will then grit the next category and so on so that eventually all roads are, in theory, gritted.
The problem this winter is that the main roads are re freezing within hours and as they are priority routes, they have to be done again and again leaving lower priority routes without any treatment. This is compounded by the fact that the demand for rock salt has been so high that vehicles have to wait for several hours before being able to get back to depots and essentially, those trucks are just sitting in queues at the salt mines.
The bad weather is across the whole country which is also unusual. UNder normal circumstances, if one area is badly hit, neighbouring authorities help eachother out by topping up supplies as required, at the moment it's dog eat dog and the demand is unprecedented.
In Cheshire, there are no council staff on gritting duties, the work is contracted out (that was a political decision to reduce staff), that may well be the case in many local authorities. The Highways Authority (the council), tell the contractor which roads to treat and what the criteria is and that's as far as it goes.
A number of office staff, including myself, have been out with shovels and bags of grit, clearing some of the pavements around Chester and a few other places. It's about all we, as lazy arsed council workers can do to help out in what is an exceptionally cold spell.
I was around in 1963 and obviously in 1981/2. In 1963 it was much worse weather wise but not as many people commuted any sort of distances to work or school so the schools tended to stay open and as the Health and safety issues were almost non existent, we were allowed to play out at break times.
In 1981, it was pretty grim but again there was less traffic around and much less commuting by todays standard.
This country is not prepared for exceptional weather, it would cost too much to gear up for it and frankly, no local authority could afford to have the necessary equipment laying idle for long periods, nor could it afford the contract costs etc.
To be honest, I get well naffed off with the general assumption that council workers are all lazy bastards. Most of the people you see digging the roads up and sitting in their lorries drinking tea are not actual council staff, they're contractors or sub contractors. I can't speak for everyone who works for a local authority but I can say that those of us who are left (1200 made redundant in Cheshire West last year) understand that we provide a service for the tax payers and do our best to do that. I'm not sure what else we could actually do in this present big freeze bearing in mind the points I've raised.
That's MY rant over.
By the way, getting sand off a beach is not an option, it doesnt work as a melting agent but it could give a bit of extra grip. Imagine if every authority did that though? No beaches left
