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Master Plan Spells Snow free Roads

10th November 1961, Page 133
10th November 1961
Page 133
Page 132
Page 134
Page 135
Page 133, 10th November 1961 — Master Plan Spells Snow free Roads
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

by Ashley Taylor, A.M.I.R.T.E.

Highly Geared Snow Clearance Programme in Aberdeenshire Always Ready fir Immediate Action

T the beginning of November each year, the Aberdeen shire snow clearance programme stands ready to be put into immediate action as soon as the need arises. From then until March the necessary men and machinery are available throughout the county at strategic points where they can commence operation with the minimum of delay. With plenty of ground more than 1,500 ft. above sea level in the west of the county, and very little standing in the path of any wind that might blow from the region of the North Pole, Aberdeenshire has good reason to place high priority on keeping its highways clear.

Three features are of special importance with this system adopted by the county authorities. The first is the possession of a large and powerful fleet that includes highcapacity snow-cutting machines. Secondly, there is the circulation of information through police channels so that road users can quickly and easily obtain an up-to-the-minute report on the conditions of any main route they wish to use. And finally, there is an arrangement with a number of farmers to hold snow ploughs at carefully chosen places and to use them when necessary to open up minor roads, thus increasing the effectiveness of clearing the main arteries.

Within the county boundaries lie 2,383 miles of road, which are divided into approx:rnately 109 miles of trunk highway, 384 miles of class 1, 306 miles of class 11, 719 miles of class III, and 865 miles of unclassified roads.

The responsibility for snow removal rests with Mr. J. W. Fenton, the county surveyor, whilst immediate control over the working of the plan is exercised by the deputy county surveyor, Mr. G. B. Cram. The authority owns all the requisite mobile-equipment needed to cover the area, 'with the exception of one Broi rotary snow plough and one Mack vehicle fitted with a high-lift plough and gritting body, both of these 'being the property of the Scottish Home Department.

For the rest, there are two large Rolba-Kloeckner r ploughs which have 90-h.p. air-cooled engines, for pelling the units. The snow clearing mechanisms are d by 180-200-h.p. 12-cylinder air-cooled oil engines, whic carried in the rear of the van bodies. The ploughs cl width of 8 ft. 4 in., which can be increased to 11 ft. and a capacity of 1,500 tons of snow per hour. Thes supplemented by a somewhat smaller Rolba carried Unimog chassis, this having a 110-125-h.p. plough el and a capacity half that of the larger model.

More conventional equipment includes 22 large V-plo giving a 9-ft. cut, which are attached to Mack tractor: A.E.C. tankers. In addition, there are 35 medium V-pk fitted to all-the-year-round haulage vehicles and 41 str or scraper blades for attachment to haulage vehicles c 5-ton class, these being used particularly for follow-up They are especially useful in tim thaw when snow turns to slush.

The heavy Rolbas are geared to suit the forward speed of the t ploughs which, when operatin heavy snow, will be approxin 0.48 m.p.h. Selected drivers fror -highways staff are trained to h the rotaries because, unlike th ploughs which are merely, attach y lorries, the specialist units have a number of entirely .ent controls to operate and close attention is necessary der to extract top performance from these machines. e Mack tractors and A.E.C. tankers are all used sively for snow clearance and are of ex-W.D. origin. nally they were petrol-engined, but it has been found while to replace the power units with oil engines, the

r's own diesels being sold for the • Ls and Gardner nil engines for L.E.C. chassis.

one time, if any of the heavier ;hs became ditched in the course lerations, the dispatch of another r vehicle for rescue work was sary, so reducing the ploughing ;th elsewhere. .HoweVer, the :y have purchased a further oiled Mack and equipped it with a n crane so that a complete ery service can be provided withny reduction in the actual work of removal.

erationally, the territory is split three divisions each under a divisional surveyor. Further sub-divisions split up into nine districts, each of these being under a supervisory foreman located at a roads depot headquarters. Clearance work is based on these depots. They hold the main items of equipment, although for quick starting a number of suitable units are outstationed.

-The first division. covers Turritf, Fraserburgh and Peterhead, the second includes Deeside, Huntly and Alford, and the last -division has it main centres at Aberdeen, Ellon and Garioch. There are 10 main locations for heavy equipment.

Priority for clearance is given to bus routes and main roads and when operations are in full swing there is no question of a plough corning to a halt on reaching its district boundary. Obviously, one unit may have a Much easier run. than its opposite number, so the rule is that they carry on forward until they meet.

Once the priority duties have been completed the work continues on the lesser roads. At the same time, farmers up and down the county, who hold the authority's snow ploughs in their posseSsion, work to improve the situation on the by-ways in their particular areas; in due course they are remunerated for the hours spent on this task.

The idea of placing equipment in the hands of farmers was first tried out in 1959 when six ploughs were supplied for attachment to farm tractors, the object being for them to work on unclassified roads and, wherever possible, to link up with clearance teams on the through roads.

They generally operate within four to six miles of their own land and, keeping in contact with the supervising foreman, try to get through to the county's own team. Where they encounter conditions that make it too difficult for them to effect any kind of clearance they communicate with the local headquarters or with Aberdeen and notify them of the need for heavierplant to be brought into action.

When. repairs are required, the units in the farmers' hands are dealt with by the machinery' depot at Inverurie. Because of the scheme's initial successan additional six ploughs were made available to farmers in 1960.

Both the ordinary road foremen and the farmers start work on their own initiative as soon as the need to do so becomes clear. The supervising foremen remain by the telephones in their own depots so as to maintain contact between the teams on the road and the control room at headquarters. At least twice a day the men telephone their reports on the situation as it concerns them.

An operational map divided into districts indicated by colour, is on view in the control room. Each route is numbered and every divisional surveyor and supervising foreman has corresponding maps so that the Portions of road that required attention, or have been cleared, are identifiable with certainty even in the course of a telephone conversation. Where a road is reported blocked by snow line is marked over in red and when cleared the red is rubbed off and replabed by green.

Throughout the county there is close liaison between the surveyor's staff and the police. All concerned are in possession of an Information Report form which facilitates the recording of road conditions on over 50 sections of main road, morning and afternoon, for a week. At times when snowstorms are raging, notification of the situation is sent out twice daily to the various police sub-divisions.

A problem that is encountered more frequently in Aberdeenshire than in many other parts of the country is that of -quick drifting. This arises because of high winds and

it is not unknown for them to necessitate fresh drift-rer operations when the road had been cleared 24 hour viously and there had been no further fall.

The use of the marked map to chart progress giv at-a-glance picture of the manner in which any snowf is developing and the effect it will probably have on I in the county as a whole. If the indications are that areas are likely to be untouched it is then possit dispatch certain of the standing equipment from those to places more seriously affected. Even where a snow: covers the whole county the low-lying and coastal are likely to be the more quickly cleared and when it is rep that the task has been completed the decision mr taken to reinforce the more heavily hit neighbourhoo equipment from other points.

Apart from routine messages, at times of stress information comes into the control room throughot day and night including urgent appeals for roads • cleared in order that ambulances may pass or suppl! cattle feed may be obtained. Throughout its operatic system depends on the use of the telephone for the pu of communication. Other means such as radio have suggested but, as 90 per cent, of the telephone lines i area run underground, there is little interference wit service and little likely to be gained by alternative mei

From November 1 onwards, all snow equipment has in good repair and at its allotted base for action. At the end of the previous s. every unit is returned to the plant mai ance depots for examination and ovei These depots are at Ellon, Aboyne Inverurie and they operate in accordanct the policy laid down by the deputy ci surveyor.

So as to facilitate maintenance work to keep stocks of spares within a reaso compass the main items have been stan ized. The large V-ploughs are all of the c produced by James A. Cuthbertson, Lt Biggar, whilst the medium-sizes ar Johnson or Cuthbertson make. Blade scrapers are chiefly products of M William Bunce and Son, whilst the co : ploughs and so on come from Messrs. Greys of erangus.

If the three machinery depots mentioned earlier. :rurie, the largest, has a staff of 22, whilst Elton and )yne have 11 each. They are all skilled men and apart n mechanics there are blacksmiths, turners, joiners, and :hpainters. They of course, maintain the department's 3 vehicles, concrete mixers, rollers and, in fact, practiy every kind of civil engineering plant, in addition to the s required for snow ploughing. Furthermore, mainten: work is also performed for the county Amenities )artment which carries out functions largely similar -to irks and cemeteries department.

he engineering routine is of a preventive nature. Each is brought into the workshops for attention when a letermined number of hours have been worked. Spare el engines are carried for the Macks so that in the case nvakdown they can be fitted without delay.

rom the operational angle also a certain amount of rt is made at prevention. Away in the western part of county, bordering on the Grampian Mountains, there parts which are particularly liable to blockage as a it of the snow drifting in high winds. ,At such points the :tice for many years has been to erect snow fencing, in form of chestnut paling, at a suitable distance from the 5 of the road and without a doubt this procedure has xi much hard labour by the snow teams.

/hen a severe storm develops, all the rotary and high-lift ighs are double-manned on a separate shift system so . the machinery is kept going for a minimum of 16 rs a day and often, where emergencies such as ambu:e calls develop, for very much longer.

twee years ago the county knocked up a score of 16,000 rs on snow clearance and the total cost in the 1958-59 was £63,100. Twelve months later the campaign ran at £62,500. In 1960-61 the charges went down with a ip to £24,800 for, as in the rest of Britain, the winter was with little snow, although intensive gritting was still !ssary.

Ithough less spectacular the road gritting plan is noneess essential, for the frequent high winds in winter are le to cause treacherous conditions for the road-using imunity in Aberdeenshire. To deal with this problem, of the department's general service lorries have been d with Tuke and Bell gritting attachments which are -en off the rear wheels of the vehicle. A hatch for the )ut of grit is opened in the floor of the lorry and it is ributed forward of the rear wheels, so doing much to

ensure the road holding qualities of the spreading vehicle.

Gritting proceeds on very much the same general lines as snow clearance, except that heavy chassis, such as the Macks, are not used for gritting, the only exception being the one such vehicle which is the property of the Scottish Home Department.

An early patrol is carried out when the temperature is low in order that gritting may be started sufficiently early to ease the path of the buses, milk collection services and others who start early in the morning. Should conditions deteriorate in the course of the day, the crews may be called out to grit the roads again in the afternoon or even at night. if it is required.

Records show that Janultry and February provide particularly difficult conditions, with frequent frosts, and during that period thrice-daily attention is nothing unusual. Grit and sand stocks are maintained at strategic points throughout the county, mechanical shovels of Chaseside and Weatherall manufacture being available for loading the gritting machines.


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