Member Article

Gritters working through summer heatwave

Melting roads are forcing councils to grit roads across Cumbria and Northumberland. The gritters, usually reserved to combat freezing on road surfaces, will be spreading crushed rock dust to put a fine non-stick layer between road and tyre. Temperatures have been so high recently that bitumen surfaces have started to become viscous, and under these conditions the surfaces can become stuck to vehicles and damaged. Stretches of newly-laid road surface are particularly vulnerable to the process, known as ‘plucking-out’. The Met Office have issued a Level Three Heatwave warning, and temperatures in the North East are tipped to reach 30 degrees celsius.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .