Gritters out in Nottinghamshire tonight as temperatures drop below freezing

Gritters will be out in Nottinghamshire tonight with temperatures set to drop below freezing.
Gritter drivers Tony Brown, Mark Wardle, Andrew Hammans and Paul Davis at Gamston Highways Depot with Via East Midlands team manager, Kevin Heathcote and Nottinghamshire County Councils Communities and Place chairman, Councillor John CotteeGritter drivers Tony Brown, Mark Wardle, Andrew Hammans and Paul Davis at Gamston Highways Depot with Via East Midlands team manager, Kevin Heathcote and Nottinghamshire County Councils Communities and Place chairman, Councillor John Cottee
Gritter drivers Tony Brown, Mark Wardle, Andrew Hammans and Paul Davis at Gamston Highways Depot with Via East Midlands team manager, Kevin Heathcote and Nottinghamshire County Councils Communities and Place chairman, Councillor John Cottee

Nottinghamshire County Council's gritting teams will be gritting A and B roads and bus routes overnight for the first time this season.

Teams may also be out again on Saturday and Sunday, depending on weather conditions and road temperatures.

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Councillor John Cottee, the council's Communities and Place Committee chairman said: "Winter maintenance is a high priority for us at Nottinghamshire County Council.

Gritter drivers Tony Brown, Mark Wardle, Andrew Hammans and Paul Davis at Gamston Highways Depot with Via East Midlands team manager, Kevin Heathcote and Nottinghamshire County Councils Communities and Place chairman, Councillor John CotteeGritter drivers Tony Brown, Mark Wardle, Andrew Hammans and Paul Davis at Gamston Highways Depot with Via East Midlands team manager, Kevin Heathcote and Nottinghamshire County Councils Communities and Place chairman, Councillor John Cottee
Gritter drivers Tony Brown, Mark Wardle, Andrew Hammans and Paul Davis at Gamston Highways Depot with Via East Midlands team manager, Kevin Heathcote and Nottinghamshire County Councils Communities and Place chairman, Councillor John Cottee

"Behind the scenes we plan for it all year round, so we're in a strong position and ready for whatever the winter weather throws at us.

"Tonight will be the first run of the season for our gritting teams.

"Every time the lorries go out, an area the size of 100 large football pitches gets gritted. Each gritting run can take over three hours - so that that means is that residents' roads may be gritted sometime after the gritting run starts."

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The county council stockpiles 20,000 tonnes of salt at the start of the winter based at Markham Moor, Bilsthorpe, Newark and Gamston. A fleet of 23 gritters are on standby from October to March and additional drivers and vehicles are on hand to provide cover for daytime and weekend gritting.Explaining how the salting action works, gritting team manager Kevin Heathcote explained: “When we spread salt on the network, it will mix with any moisture and create a saline solution which has a lower freezing point than water and therefore helps stop ice from forming on the road, even though the temperature is below freezing for water.“At temperatures below minus six degrees, however, the effectiveness of the salt is reduced, meaning there’s a chance that ice could form even though we have gritted the network, so it is important that road users drive to the conditions."