Winter Service Plan 2015-2016

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Sligo County Council

Winter Service Plan 2015/2016

Tom Kilfeather

Director of Services,

Infrastructure

1st December 2015

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Contents Page

1. Winter Service Policy 3

2. Winter Servicing, Prioritisation of Roads & Routes 4 - 6

3. Weather Predictions & the Decision Process 6 - 7

4. Organisation Arrangements & Personnel 7 - 8

5. Winter Service Plant & Equipment 9

6. Road Salt / De-icing Material 10

7. Depots / Salt Barns 11

8. Pre Season Preparation 11

9. Communication & Publicity/Distribution List 12 -13

10. Appendix A - Duty Engineers Roster 14

11. Appendix B – Maps 15 - 23

Document Control Rev Status Revision Details Date

A

B

Approval List

Role Name

Director of Services for

Transportation

T. Kilfeather –

D.O.S.

Winter Service Manager T. Brennan – S.E.

Author

P. Hughes – S.E.E.

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Winter Service Policy The aim of this winter service plan is to set out how Sligo County

Council will deal with ice and snow conditions on roads in County Sligo. The

winter service plan will be amended as necessary during the winter season.

The purpose of this Plan is to identify the processes, procedures and key

personnel employed by Sligo County Council to deliver the winter service for

County Sligo. In general planned treatment responses involve spreading salt

on the road during frost and ploughing snow during snow periods.

Winter service is not an emergency service in the traditional sense in that low

temperatures, ice and snow are regular, frequent and reasonably predictable

occurrences.

This plan does not deal with other extreme winter weather events such as

flooding and high winds.

The Council’s objective is to provide an effective and efficient winter

service within the resources available to minimise the negative impacts

of frost, ice or snow on the travelling public, i.e.

Allow the safe passage of vehicles and pedestrians on Priority 1

(National Roads) and Priority 2 Roads

Minimise delays due to winter weather conditions

Ensure operations are undertaken safely and efficiently

The level of service will vary with the priority assigned to a particular route

e.g. Priority 1 roads will be given a higher priority than priority 2 roads etc.

The aim is to treat the strategic locations on the public road network including

roads serving;

- Hospitals & Clinics

- Local Authority Salt Stores

- Emergency Services (Fire & Ambulance Stations)

- Roads serving Water and Sewage Treatment Works

- Major Industries

- Sligo Bus / Train Stations

- Sligo Airport

Most of the roads serving the above locations are listed as Priority 1 and

Priority 2 routes. Given the scale of the resources involved in delivering the

winter service it is not possible to provide the service to all parts of the roads

network. It is not possible to ensure that road surfaces are kept free of ice or

snow at all times on the treated parts of the network.

Winter maintenance on national roads is carried out by Sligo County

Council for the NRA and is funded by the NRA. Winter maintenance on Non

National Roads is funded by the Department of Transport and Sligo County

Council.

The winter maintenance season is from Monday 19th

October, 2015 to

Sunday 1st May 2016. All of the above is subject to the availability of

resources. Resources include finance, salt, plant and labour.

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Winter Servicing Prioritisation of Roads & Routes

The winter servicing of the road network in Sligo is prioritised considering the

strategic importance of the roads, the volume of traffic on the roads and roads that

are important to the region.

The NRA Winter Service Working Draft Manual suggests the following criteria

for the prioritising of routes.

Table 1 - NRA Criteria for Prioritising Routes

Road

Priority

Description Level of Service

Priority 1

Those routes which are essential to be kept

serviceable in all weather conditions, as far as

reasonably practicable

To be treated during all weather events

Priority 2

Those routes which are desirable to be kept

serviceable in the normal winter weather

conditions, as far as reasonably practicable.

Priority 2 routes could include those routes

which are important regionally, such as (for

example) principle public transport routes, or

the main commuter routes.

To be treated as part of the normal winter service but

may have interruptions to treatment in certain severe

weather events.

Priority 3

Those routes that could be kept serviceable

once Priority 1 and 2 routes have been treated,

if resources allow.

Table 2 - County Sligo Roads - Priority Table

Priority Road

1 N4, N15, N16, N17, N59.

2 Regional Roads – R277, R278, R279 Cliffoney – Mullaghmore, R284, R286, R287, R290, R291, R292,

R293, R294, R295, R296, R297, R298, *R361, Collooney – Coolaney – Rockfield road, The Regional

and some Urban roads in Sligo City / Environs (shown on Treatment Routes “B”, “E” and “F”). L-14019

– to HSE Centre at Cloonamahon, L-7428-0 (Loop road to St. Angela’s College, Clogherevagh), L-

1404-0 - N4 Castlebaldwin to Cloghoge N.S.

3 Roads not listed on Priority 1 or 2 but have steep gradients in housing estates, junctions with National

roads.

* R361 is salted by Roscommon Co. Co. on behalf of Sligo Co. Co.

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Table 3 shows the principal roads along each salting route. Sligo County Council

have 7 salting routes (Routes A, B, C, D, E, F and G). Refer to maps in Appendix B

at the back of this document for locations.

Table 3 – Route Principal Roads included in Route

A N4 (and Slip Roads along Dual Carriageway), R284 Ballygawley – Carrowroe, R290

Collooney – Ballygawley, L-14019 to HSE Centre at Cloonamahon,, L-14043 N4

Castlebaldwin to Cloghoge N.S.

B N15, N16, R277 in Strandhill and road to the Promenade in Strandhill, R279 Cliffoney –

Mullaghmore, R291, R292.

C N17 (Toberbride – Tubbercurry – Bellaghy), R294 Gorteen – Tubbercurry - Border with

Mayo, L-4501-0 N17 – junction with R294 at Ballyara), Tubbercurry Town Centre Streets,

Collooney – Coolaney – Rockfield Roads, R290 Collooney – Ballysadare Bridge, N59

Ballysadare Bridge - Old N4 – Carrowroe Roundabout.

D N59 Ballysadare Bridge – Mayo Border, R297 Mayo Border – Enniscrone – Easkey –

Dromore West, R298 from junction with N59 to junction with R297.

E R278 Bellanode – Carrickoneileen/Leitrim Border, R286 Bellanode – County Boundary

with Leitrim, R287 Gortlownan – Carrowroe, R284 Ballygawley – Border with

Roscommon, L-7428 Loop Road to St. Angela’s College Clogherevagh.

* It is proposed to salt the sections of R286, R287 & R288 circuit around Lough Gill via

Dromahair in Leitrim on this route also (as requested by Leitrim Co. Co.).

F Sligo City and Environs including , Molloway Hill – Connaughton Road – Thomas Street

– Castle Street – O’Connell Street – Markievicz Road – The Slip – Pearse Road to

Carrowroe Roundabout, Mail Coach Road – Adelaide Street-Lord Edward Street – Sligo

City Streets and roads in Sligo Environs.

G

R293 N17 Clarkes Bridge – Roscommon Border, R294 Roscommon Border – Gorteen,

R295 Ballymote – Roscommon Border, R296 Junction with R294 – Bunnanadden –

Ballymote. The streets of Ballymote, R290 Ballygawley – Ballintogher – Junction with

R287.

Note: The section of R361 in County Sligo will be salted by Roscommon County

Council when they are salting their section of R361.

Table 4 sets out the maximum mobilisation and treatment times for the routes.

Table 4

Treatment Route Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3

Mobilisation Time 1 hr 1 hr When possible

Treatment Time 2 hr 3 hr When possible

Precautionary treatment is when salt is spread following warnings of expected low

temperatures to reduce the likelihood of ice forming on the road.

Sligo City Centre footpaths will not be considered for treatment except in severe or

prolonged winter weather and then only when resources are available.

During extreme cold periods and during snow the Machinery Yard staff will be

helped by the Roads Area staff. Plant and additional hired mechanical

spreaders/drivers will also be used for getting grit and salt onto the roads

particularly on hilly local roads, roads near schools and roads where traffic is

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encountering problems due to the weather.

Sligo County Council ordinarily treats 440km approx. of road which equates to

100% of the National Primary network, 100% of the National Secondary network,

100% of Regional roads and 48km approx. of the local/urban road network.

Route F treats 42 km approx. of roads within Sligo City and its Environs – see

map.

Weather Predictions and the Decision Process

The NRA procures bureau weather services to assist Sligo County Council and the

other Local Authorities in predicting when frost, ice or snow may occur on the

road network. These services are currently provided by a combination of Met

Éireann and Vaisala.

The weather forecast information (supplied by Met Eireann) and the weather

station measurements (from Vaisala) are available to the On Call Duty Engineer.

There are two weather stations in County Sligo.

(i) On the N4 described as the “N4 Collooney Bypass” Weather Station (at

Drumfin South of Collooney).

(ii) On the N16 described as “N16 Manorhamilton” Station (at Gortnagrelly –

between Sligo and Glencar). This station was damaged in a car accident in

2014 and has not yet been replaced.

Duty Engineers have access to other weather station information in

neighbouring counties e.g. in Mayo on N59 between Ballina and

Crossmolina, on N5 near Charlestown and on N61 near Elphin and at

Tullaghan on N15.

The Duty Engineer will review the weather forecast information each day. Based

on the forecasts the Duty Engineer will make and record the treatment decisions

for the evening and the following morning.

The Duty Engineer will continue to monitor weather as necessary, particularly

when the forecast is marginal. This may change the previously planned decision

depending on weather trends.

Precautionary evening treatments will generally commence after 7.00pm.

However, this time may change dependant on weather conditions. If it was

raining, treatment would not commence until the rain stops.

Table 5 (from the NRA Working Draft National Winter Service Manual) sets out a

decision matrix guide for salting operations.

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Table 5 - Decision Matrix Guide

Road Surface

Temperature

Precipitation Predicted Road Conditions

Wet Wet Patches Dry

May fall below 1°C

No rain

No hoar frost

No fog

Salt before frost Salt before frost (see note a)

No action likely, monitor weather (see note a)

Expected to fall below 1°C

No rain

No hoar frost

No fog

Expected hoar frost

Expected fog

Salt before frost (see note b)

Expected rain before freezing

Salt after rain stops (see note c)

Expected rain during freezing

Salt before frost, as required during rain and after rain stops (see note d)

Possible rain

Possible hoar frost

Possible fog

Salt before frost Monitor weather conditions

Expected Snow Salt before snow fall

The decision to undertake precautionary treatments should be, if appropriate, adjusted to take account of residual salt or surface moisture.

All decisions should be evidence based, recorded and require careful monitoring and review.

Organisation Arrangements and Personnel

Duty Engineer

The Duty Engineer on reaching a decision about salting will inform the Technical

Services Supervisor, Machinery Yard and give details of the routes to be salted,

the spread rate of salt and the proposed starting times. The Technical Services

Supervisor, Machinery Yard will in turn notify/call out the Machinery Yard

drivers rostered to salt the routes and give them the salting details.

The Technical Services Supervisor, Machinery Yard will arrange to have a

loading shovel and driver available to reload the salters after the routes are salted

in order to be ready for the next roster.

During periods of extended winter service activity the Machinery Yard Technical

Services Supervisor and Senior Executive Engineer, Machinery Yard will assess

driver and operator fatigue prior to assigning duties.

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Table 6 shows the County Council personnel involved in the winter service

operation.

Table 6 - Sligo County Council Winter Service Personnel

Senior Engineer

Tom Brennan - Senior Engineer – Winter Service Manager

Duty Engineers

Tom Brennan – Senior Engineer

Paddy Hughes – Senior Executive Engineer

Brian Flynn – Senior Executive Engineer

Michael Conway – Executive Engineer

Machinery Yard Staff

Paddy Hughes – Senior Executive Engineer

Brian Cullen – Technical Services Supervisor – Machinery Yard

Dermot James – Craft Foreman

Gordon Lyttle – Craft Foreman

Tom McGowan – Craft Foreman

County Council Drivers

Michael Clancy Tom Gethins

George Cuffe James Higgins

Jimmy Cullen Michael McGrath

Martin Davey Mark Murphy

Padraig Davey Seamus Regan

James Feeney Eugene Sherlock

Kevin Feeney Hugh Walsh

Paul Gallagher

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Winter Service Plant & Equipment

Table 7 gives details of the equipment used to deliver the winter service. Sligo

County Council operates 7 Routes. 5 No. 6m3, 1 No. 9m

3 and 1 No. 5m

3 salt

spreaders are normally used. (For Priority 1 and Priority 2 routes)

The salt spreaders are all Romaquip demountable type - mounted on trucks.

The loading shovel for loading the salt is hired and the Technical Services

Supervisor, Machinery Yard ensures that it is available prior to the

start of the season and that it is always available at short notice.

The Technical Services Supervisor, Machinery Yard will also ensure that suitable

backup loading plant is available at short notice in case of a breakdown.

All plant is fully serviced prior to the start of the season. Plant shall be checked

for all safety features at the end of each treatment run in preparation for the next

run.

Table 7 sets out the details of the Winter Maintenance Plant used by Sligo County

Council / Sligo Borough Council

Table 7 - Winter Maintenance Plant - 2015/2016

Route

No.

Plant

Reg No.

Make Type Plant

No.

Base Spreader

No.

Capacity Spreader

Type

Plough Plough

attached

A 07 SO

2817

Scania 300 86 Machinery

Yard

Plant 72 6m3 Romaquip

Romaquip

Plant 113

Yes

B 04 SO

1776

Scania 220 43 “ Plant 76 6m3 Romaquip

Romaquip

Plant 103

Yes

C 02 SO

616


Romaquip

Plant 81

Yes

D 04 SO

1748


Romaquip

Plant 82

Yes

E 07 SO

2818


Romaquip

Plant 104

Yes

F 07 SO

2819

Scania 220 88 Machinery

Yard

Plant 71 5m3 Romaquip

Romaquip

Plant 112

No

G

01 SO

2964

Mercedes 1823 38 Machinery

Yard

Plant 74 6m3 Romaquip Romaquip

Plant 80

Yes

-

99 S)

287

(Duster

for oil

spills)

Scania 220 27 “ 70 6m3 Romaquip - No

-

- - - - - 124 3m3 Romaquip - -

Borough Footpaths

- Salt

Spreader

for

footpaths

SP85 - Borough

Municipal

Yard

- 75L Snowex - -

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Road Salt / De-icing Material

The NRA has procured salt for the 2015/2016 season and operates the Salt

Management System.

Sligo County Council arranges to collect the salt from the NRA depots.

Rock salt is the most commonly used de-icing material. Marine salt is also readily

available and is also suitable.

Rock salt should comply with BS 3247:1991 ‘Salt for spreading –

Coarse Rock Salt’.

Grit (salt sand mix) should not generally be used in the salt spreaders,

because of the excessive wear on equipment, except in the treatment of

hard-packed snow and ice which cannot be removed by ploughing.

The salt is stored in the covered salt barns at Drumaskibbole at the Machinery

Yard and at Union Quarry. Salt will also be stored outdoors (covered) at a depot

at Union Quarry if necessary.

Table 8 shows the approx. salt used on each route spreading at 10g/m2, 20g/m

2 and

40g/m2.

Table 8 - Salt Usage for each route

Route Depots Est. Salt

@ 10g/m2

tonnes

Est. Salt

@ 20g/m2 tonnes

Est. Salt

@ 40 g/m2

tonnes

A – N4 Machinery Yard/Union Quarry 5.5 11 22

B – N15/N16 Machinery Yard/Union Quarry 6 12 24

C – N17 Machinery Yard/Union Quarry 6.7 13.4 26.8

D – N59 Machinery Yard/Union Quarry 6.5 13 26

E Machinery Yard/Union Quarry 5 10 20

F Machinery Yard/Union Quarry 4.5 9 18

G Machinery Yard/Union Quarry 4.5 9 18

Total 38.7 77.4 154.8

Duty Engineers will return details of depot salt stock, salt usage and

salt received to the NRA weekly (or as requested).

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Depots/Salt Barns

Sligo County Council has roofed Salt Barns at:-

(a) The Machinery Yard in Drumaskibbole. This was constructed in 2009. It is

located adjacent to the N4 Dual Carriageway and is very convenient for access to

all routes.

(b) Union Quarry - with a capacity of 1300 tonnes.

In addition there is an uncovered salt storage facility/depot at Union Quarry which

has reinforced concrete walls and floors. The salt is covered with a proprietary

cover suitably tied down-to prevent salt getting wet. It holds 900 tonnes of salt

approx.

Welfare facilities are available for staff at the Machinery Yard and at Union

Quarry.

Details of the Sligo County Council salt depots are shown in Table 9.

Table 9 - Salt Stocks – Depot Details

Location Type Routes Capacity

(tonnes)

Minimum

Stock

(tonnes)

Buffer

Stock

(tonnes)

Total Min

Stock

(tonnes)

Drumaskibbole

Machinery Yard

Roofed

Salt Barn

All 900 60 20 80

Union Quarry

Roofed All 1300 60 20 80

Union Quarry

Un-roofed All 900 0 0 0

The roofed salt barns at Drumaskibbole and Union Quarry will be filled to capacity at

the beginning of the season and again prior to the Christmas shutdown if

salt is available.

As salt is removed from stockpiles a safe slope on the salt must

be maintained to protect operatives from the risk of collapse of the stockpiles.

Pre Season Preparation

Pre-season preparation is very important. This includes the following:

Refresher training for drivers and finalising routes.

Refresher training for Duty Engineers.

Calibration of Salt Spreaders.

Servicing of Plant i.e. lorries, salt spreaders and snow ploughs.

Ordering of Salt through NRA Salt Management System.

Preparation of depots including checking lighting.

Check weather station operation and website access.

Check snowploughs and test attachments to trucks.

Check stock of salt spreader spare parts.

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Communication & Publicity

The communication of road conditions especially during severe cold/snow spells

to the public is very important. Sligo County Council will use the broadcast and

print media and its own website to inform the public about road conditions and the

Council’s Winter Service Plan.

The salting route maps are posted on the Sligo County Council website for

the duration of the winter season including summary information from

the service plan.

During severe or prolonged cold weather the Council website will contain

frequently updated information on road conditions in the County. Updates and

progress reports will be issued on a regular basis to the local radio stations and

newspapers about the road conditions. Sligo County Council advertise emergency

contact numbers to deal with out of office time enquiries.

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Distribution List

The distribution list includes the people named in the plan.

Issued To Organisation / Company Name / Address

Chief Executive Officer Sligo County Council C. Hayes

Cathaoirleach/Members Sligo County Council County Hall

Director of Services

(Infrastructure)

Sligo County Council T. Kilfeather,

Senior Engineer Sligo County Council T. Brennan

Duty Engineer(s)

Sligo County Council T. Brennan, P. Hughes,

B. Flynn & M. Conway.

Machinery Yard/Winter

Service Supervisor

Sligo County Council B. Cullen

Health & Safety Advisor

Asst. Health & Safety Advisor



A. Quinn-Hyland,

A. Gilboy

Winter Maintenance Manager

Chief Executive Officer

NRA

Donegal County Council

Stephen Smyth – NRA

Lifford, Co. Donegal

Chief Executive Officer Roscommon County Council Roscommon Town, Co. Roscommon

Chief Executive Officer Leitrim County Council Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim

Chief Executive Officer Mayo County Council Castlebar, Co. Mayo

An Garda Siochána

Chief Superintendent Pearse Road, Sligo

HSE Ambulance Services HSE Tony Cummins, Donegal Road,

Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal

HSE Ambulance Services

HSE – Bridget Meehan Ambulance Rest Room, General

Hospital, Sligo

Marian Davis Civil Defence Sligo County Council

Sean Brady Western Regional Control

Centre

Fire Station, Castlebar, Co. Mayo

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Appendix A – Sligo County Council Duty Engineer Roster

Winter Maintenance Duty Engineers’ Roster for the Period 19th

October 2015 to 30th

April 2016

Local Authority: Sligo County Council

Week starting

Monday

Duty Engineer Week starting

Monday


Monday


Monday

Duty Engineer

19/10/2015 MC 07/12/2015 TB 25/01/2016 TB 14/03/2016 PH

26/10/2015 MC 14/12/2015 MC 01/02/2016 TB 21/03/2016 TB

02/11/2015 BF 21/12/2015 MC 08/02/2016 MC 28/03/2016 TB

09/11/2015 BF 28/12/2015 BF 15/02/2016 MC 04/04/2016 MC

16/11/2015 PH 04/01/2016 BF 22/02/2016 BF 11/04/2016 BF

23/11/2015 PH 11/01/2016 PH 29/02/2016 BF 18/04/2016 PH

30/11/2015 TB 18/01/2016 PH 07/03/2016 PH 25/04/2016 TB

Duty Engineer’s Name & Initials

Office Phone No Office E-mail Address Mobile No

Michael Conway 071 9111494 [email protected] 087 1229396

Brian Flynn 071 9111487 [email protected] 087 2432675

Paddy Hughes 071 9111486 [email protected] 087 7970465

Tom Brennan 071 9111448 [email protected] 087 6866782

mailto:[email protected]




l© Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. Licence number 2010/20 CCMA/ Sligo County Council

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Appendix B – List of Maps

Map 1 - Road Priorities Map

Map 2 - Route A

Map 3 - Route B

Map 4 - Route C

Map 5 - Route D

Map 6 - Route E

Map 7 - Route F (Sligo City and Environs)

Map 8 - Route G


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17


18


19


20


21


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Winter Service Plan 2015-2016

Documents

Transcript of Winter Service Plan 2015-2016