Team poised to 'get gritting'

While most of us will enjoy Christmas at home with our families, some of Highway Services team members will be on standby to provide winter maintenance for roads in case of bad weather.

The Highways Services team working in Essex provides winter maintenance for approximately 1,491 km of roads in the south and west of the county. The team operates a squadron of 31 gritters from the beginning of October to the end of April. Each of the seven districts covered by May Gurney operates a rota of duty engineers, giving 24/7 support and emergency response cover.

All of the gritters are equipped with Global Positioning Technology to help track vehicle movements, and other sophisticated technology capable of confirming where and when salting has taken place.

Essex County Council uses a thermal mapping system to identify areas that are at risk of becoming icy. The council's standby officer notifies the May Gurney duty engineer if action is required - who then activates the standby teams to load and distribute salt on priority routes.

And all this is in addition to the normal working day!