Dec 11
10
Level of Preparedness for Severe Weather.
At a recent meeting of council, the City Manager briefed council on our preparedness for a severe winter this year.
Cork City Council is responsible for the maintenance of roads within the Cork City area. Winter maintenance is a key component of this service and is vital to the local economy and road safety. It is carried out to assist the safe movement of road users which include buses, cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians and to minimise delays caused by adverse weather conditions.
Cork City Council’s aim is to provide an effective and efficient winter maintenance service within the city boundaries with all its available resources. The three primary objectives of the winter maintenance plan are to:
- enable the safe passage of vehicles and pedestrians
- to minimise delays due to winter weather
- undertake winter maintenance operations in a safe fashion.
Cork City Council provides this service throughout the winter. This service includes salting (or gritting) of roads, snow ploughing and clearing footways. The logistics of the situation does not allow for the treatment of all public roads within city.
Winter Maintenance Plan
A Winter Maintenance Plan has been prepared for the salting of roads in the event of frost or snow. This Plan determines how Cork City Council will react to adverse weather events.
In general this Plan prioritises the routes that will be treated – National Primary, National Secondary, Regional and Bus Routes and particular areas of risk e.g. stagnant water, higher ground etc.
Footpaths and bridges are also salted especially in the City Centre focusing on areas of greatest pedestrian movement. The scope of winter maintenance operations can be summarised as follows:
- Precautionary gritting of roads in anticipation of freezing conditions to prevent the formation of ice.
- Continuous gritting of major roads in adverse conditions to enable continued safe usage
- Gritting of footways and footpaths.
All salting and gritting in Cork City is carried out by Road Maintenance personnel and rosters have been drawn up for personnel on call in the event of severe weather. The decision on whether or not to salt roads is taken by Roads Maintenance engineers based on information received from Met Ėireann, the NRA Road Weather Information System (Icecast) and also based on local knowledge of areas most susceptible to icing such as higher ground. This work is normally carried out between 8PM and 6.30 AM in the morning. Salt spread rates vary from 10 grams/m² for precautionary treatment to 40 grams/m² on snow. It should be noted that salt does not act immediately when it is spread on existing ice or snow. Therefore there is a need for precautionary salting. The ice or snow surrounding each salt granule has to be turned into a saline solution. The action of traffic is essential by moving the salt granules around and eventually melting all the ice or snow. On more lightly trafficked roads the surface will remain icy for some time after salting.
Winter Maintenance Resources
Personnel
Cork City Council operates an on-call system for Winter Maintenance. Two foremen, six drivers and six general operatives are on call to perform the winter maintenance operation. Additional resources will be called in as required. In an extreme or extended cold weather event assistance would be sought from the Parks and Amenity Directorate and from other Directorates.
Salt and grit is also spread manually from pickup trucks primarily on footpaths, bridges and areas adjacent to schools and hospitals, and other areas of high pedestrian usage.
Vehicles and Equipment for Winter Maintenance
Considerable investment has been made in 2010 and 2011 in upgrading the City Council’s winter maintenance equipment and all salt spreaders and snowploughs have now been replaced with modern equipment. Two new snow ploughs and an additional salter have been added to the fleet in the current year. A number of hand pushed salt dispersers suitable for the treatment of footpaths have also been acquired. The current equipment list is as follows:
2 no. 18 tonne GVW trucks
4 no. 3.5 tonne GVW pick-up trucks
1 no. 7 tonne GVW pick-up truck
2 no. demountable salt spreaders (6 m3)
1 no. demountable salt spreader (2 m3)
1 no. towed salt spreader (small)
1 no. tailgate mounted salt spreader (small)
6 no. pedestrian salt spreaders
2 no. detachable snow ploughs
2 no. foreman’s vans
1 no. J.C.B. (hired)
Additional vehicles are available from the Roads Maintenance division or other Directorates if required.
Material
The main City Council Salt Depot is located at Ringmahon Road, Mahon and it is currently fully stocked with 1,250 tonnes of salt and large stocks of grit. Salt levels are continuously monitored by the General Foremen (North & South) and salt orders are placed by Area Engineers Roads Maintenance (North & South) via the National Salt Management System website. Last year, usage of salt equated to 700 tonnes while usage during the last two severe winters was in the order of 1200 tonnes.
COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE
The Council already has a proud record of assisting communities during prolonged severe weather events. This response level, which includes significant engagement on the ground with other resources such as Community Gardaí, HSE, Army personnel will continue to be in place. Further advancement of our support to communities is being worked through the Cork Community Forum as outlined below. This will continue into the future.
Cork City Council will be providing salt to communities and Resident Associations during the coming winter period on a request basis. The community groups who request the salt will have to provide a secure location where the salt can be delivered and stored. The provision of the salt is primarily intended to empower local communities to help themselves during a cold spell. It is not intended for personal use as individuals would be expected to acquire their own salt supplies. Once distributed to a community group the salt will become the property of the same community group. It is intended to provide the salt in one tonne bags or in salt bins.
In the event of an extended severe cold weather event salt/grit will be made available in smaller quantities from City Council depots. This would be subject to the availability of this resource. Collection details will be published at the appropriate time.
In relation to contacts with local communities and voluntary groups the Director of Services, Community & Enterprise and Environment, and other staff to outline plans in relation to severe weather, attended a meeting of the Cork Community Forum on 5th October 2011 .
Community Wardens will liaise with local community and voluntary groups , staff from other Council departments including Housing Management staff , the Gardaí and HSE staff in supporting the elderly and other vulnerable groups in the event of severe weather .
The support offered will vary depending on need and may include house calls , assistance with shopping, clearing of house paths, ensuring appropriate agencies are aware of needs etc . Information on the ground from communities and Members of Council is important in trying to respond to specific issues that arise.
