We need grit salt to keep the county moving in winter; follow its journey from deep underneath Cheshire to Lincolnshire’s highways.
From October to April every year, the county council’s fleet of 43 gritters are on standby to grit our roads when the temperature drops.
But work to prepare for the winter service starts in spring and summer, when our stores are filled up with over 29,000 tonnes of salt. On the other side of the country, in Winsford, Cheshire, the salt that will become our grit starts its journey to Lincolnshire, 300m below the ground.
This is the largest salt mine in the UK, with salt being extracted here for over 170 years. Nearly two centuries of mining has left a labyrinth of salt roads, stretching over 150 miles. And it’s still growing.
At the rock face, the teeth of a huge mining machine breaks the salt away from the earth and loads it onto a conveyor belt that takes it on the six-mile journey to the surface. Along the way, it passes through crushing machines that break down the salt rocks to the 6mm granules we need for the roads. Due to its impurities – mostly sand and soil – this salt would be rubbish on your chips, but it makes great grit for our roads.
The company behind this mammoth operation is Compass Minerals UK, who work with many local authorities around the country to meet the demand for grit by producing over one million tonnes each year.
The salt is chemically treated to make it more effective as grit for the roads – meaning we need to use less of it on each run. It then sets off for Lincolnshire, with each lorry able to hold around 28 tonnes, more than 1,000 lorry loads are needed to make sure we have enough to treat the county’s roads throughout the winter season.
Our gritting routes cover nearly 2,000 miles of the county’s road network, enough to stretch from Lincolnshire to Ankara in Turkey! We cover all our A and B routes, plus extra routes around hospitals, schools and into all our major villages.
Grit isn’t magic dust, and it takes time – and traffic – to work most effectively on the roads. During wintry weather, always drive to the conditions, and plan your journey to use treated routes where you can.
You can keep up to date with the latest news from the gritting team by following @LincsCC_roads on Twitter.
For further information about gritting, including a map of treated routes and winter driving advice, visit our www.lincolnshire.gov.uk