New fleet of GPS gritting trucks help English council beat winter chill

An English borough council has invested more than £500,000 in a new fleet of state-of-the-art GPS guided gritting trucks to help combat the big winter chill descending on Britain.
March 19, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
An English borough council has invested more than £500,000 in a new fleet of state-of-the-art GPS guided gritting trucks to help combat the big winter chill descending on Britain. Westminster City Council in London will control the new machines from a central command centre as they spread the 1,600 tons of salt stockpiled in three silos across the borough. Each truck can carry up to eight tonnes of salt, and have their whereabouts tracked through their built-in GPS. Sensors also indicate whether or not each vehicle is spreading salt or just travelling. An on-board satellite navigation unit allows the central command centre to give truck drivers visible instructions of where to go and the best route to get there, delivering greater round efficiency and ensuring salt is spread where most needed. Cabinet member for city management, Councillor Ed Argar, said: “Although we have had a mild autumn Westminster is never complacent when it comes to getting ready for winter weather, we have not relented in making sure that everything is in place to combat ice and snow. “If the temperature drops this winter, Westminster City Council will be doing all it can to keep our roads and pavements clear and keep the transport network moving. This innovative and state of the art technology will make a significant impact.” There are 1,000km of road and pavement within Westminster - with the length of pavement alone akin to a journey from London to Glasgow and back. Grit levels have also been increased by Westminster City Council to deal with any issues before and after they arise. As a result of its investment in new gritting machinery, the Council can now call on six new 18tonne carriageway gritting vehicles, able to carry eight tonnes of salt; and two new 10tonne carriageway gritting vehicles, able to carry five tonnes of salt. The authority also has seven Powerflex and 3 Hako vehicles for mechanically gritting pavements.

Related Content

  • Machine control technology round table discussion with Leica Geosystems, Topcon and Trimble
    January 4, 2022
    In this, the first in a series of top-level roundtable discussions led by World Highways, editor Mike Woof and editorial director Geoff Hadwick talk machine control technology with three world-class experts from Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, Topcon and Trimble. Find out what these key opinion leaders are thinking on six vitally important topics. Let them help you stay ahead of the game.
    Read More
  • Safer cone collection with X-Cone among the latest safety innovations
    August 30, 2017
    X-Cone is a new traffic cone management system offering a higher level of safety for workers and maximum efficiency for contractors. Austrian-made X-Cone is a truck-mounted system that can manage the setting out and collection of cones from the flatbed of any 3.5tonne vehicle. It does not matter if the cones are straight or laying on the road, the X-cone can still manage the work quickly, safely and reliably, according to the manufacturer. For setting out standard cones, the driver can decide the distance b
    Read More
  • Versatile snow clearing machines
    March 20, 2012
    From removing light snow from pavements and driveways, to shifting heavy or packed piles of snow and ice, Bobcat claims they have tools for any winter job. Different hydraulic motor packages now come with the company’s snow blower models, which offer widths varying from 1,220mm to 2,134mm. With throw distances from 7.6m to 13.7m, the models have a rotating chute and deflector to point the snow in the preferred direction.
    Read More
  • New route slashes HGV Carlisle city centre through traffic by over third
    August 17, 2012
    The number of Heavy Goods Vehicles travelling through Carlisle’s city centre is estimated to have been reduced by more than a third since the new multi-million euro Carlisle Northern Development Route opened in February 2012.
    Read More

Highlighted Content