Nottinghamshire’s Highways team has been sending out the gritters…
Following the extreme temperatures across the county, this preventative measure has been taken to protect the carriageway surfaces, specifically targeting those most likely to be affected by the weather.
The road surface reacts to varying weather conditions, it softens when it’s hot, so doesn’t maintain the same strength all year round.
Not all road surfaces are made of the same type of material, which means the temperature at which roads soften may vary. Busy roads may be damaged when air temperatures reach extreme levels.
To avoid this, granite dust will be spread to soak up excess bitumen and help stop the roads from being damaged.
Since the heatwave in 1995, the road industry introduced a new specification allowing new surfaces to be made that raise the surface softening point to around 80C.
Therefore, current treatments will prioritise pre-1995 road surfaces and preventative treatments will also be carried out on selected A roads in the county.
While the A road network is to be the main focus, any reactive requests that come in will be investigated by the team.
There are gritters on standby to react to any roads in Nottinghamshire where treatment is needed.
Issues can be reported at The Highways reporting hub or you can also make a request by downloading the MyNotts app or by contacting the Customer Service team
Councillor Mike Adams, Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment said:
“We have been watching the forecasts over the past few days and have made the decision that we need to take action to protect the county’s road surfaces, and road users from the potential damage to road surfaces in this extreme weather.
“We monitor all road conditions with a view to taking action as quickly as possible.”
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