Help please/gritting etc

[bigbill 10]

Hello, i,m trying to get a meeting with SCC to look at Gritting performance. I have seen claims of 8 to 15 inches of snow in Sheffy on Boxing Night(this is at odds with weather agencies) and that SCC grits the highest percentage of roads of ANY local Authority. SCC will not say how many miles of roads this actually is. Does anyone out there have any figures or info please ? Also they will not answer why call center staff at the time were told via Email not to take any names or locations from callers.

 

Many Thanks

 

Bill Stewardson

[Flexo 10]

Hello, i,m trying to get a meeting with SCC to look at Gritting performance. I have seen claims of 8 to 15 inches of snow

 

Grit won't prevent snow from settling. You have to move it afterwards. Only then do you grit to prevent frost forming on the cleared path.

[cgksheff 44]

You also need to be clear what terminology is being used with snowfall.

 

Meteorologically, when they say that 3 inches of snow is forecast, that can be referring to the water content that can be measured in a gauge after melting.

 

Not the same thing as having snow falling to a depth of 3 inches outside your front door.

 

3 inches of precipitation can result in 2 feet or more depth.

 

http://www.csgnetwork.com/snowraincvt.html

Edited January 30, 2015 by cgksheff

[Bludragonfly 10]

The stats for how many miles are gritted was part of the consultation last year. This article comments on that http://www.de-ice.co.uk/council-u-turn-sheffield/

 

 

You could submit a Freedom of Information request of the Council to get the information you want

[Blackbeard 10]

The stats for how many miles are gritted was part of the consultation last year. This article comments on that http://www.de-ice.co.uk/council-u-turn-sheffield/

 

 

You could submit a Freedom of Information request of the Council to get the information you want

 

It has been done https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/snow_clearence_and_gritting#incoming-608043

[Annie Bynnol 612]

Very light traffic and very few heavy vehicles around on the night and morning of the 26/27th

Snow fell heavily throughout the night reaching a depth of 7" at 700'.

 

Around here the higher P1 routes and some P2 routes were gritted as a priority.

The snowfall was too quick and the lack of churning meant the gritting was less effective than normal.

Evidence of ploughing on the 27th to allow gritting to work.

 

Met Office predicted accurately- to the hour, snowfall accumulation measurements however is affected by ground temperature, air temperature aspect, height, topography, draw, dwell and wind.

There are some very good amateur stations around Sheffield who use accurate equipment in the correct way- However snowfall is the most difficult to measure and there are no "Weather agencies" making field measurements.

 

Most snowfall data is extrapolated from equivalent rainfall collected

[MZ2832 10]

Hello, i,m trying to get a meeting with SCC to look at Gritting performance. I have seen claims of 8 to 15 inches of snow in Sheffy on Boxing Night(this is at odds with weather agencies) and that SCC grits the highest percentage of roads of ANY local Authority. SCC will not say how many miles of roads this actually is. Does anyone out there have any figures or info please ? Also they will not answer why call center staff at the time were told via Email not to take any names or locations from callers.

 

Many Thanks

 

Bill Stewardson

 

Bill,

 

SCC and Streets Ahead (Amey for SCC) are putting regular messages out on Twitter - including stats. I saw one yesterday saying that this winter they had gritted 37,000 miles of Sheffield roads - that's more than the circumference of the globe. At the moment there are 19 gritters working 24 hours around the clock in shifts. The Priority 1 and Priority 2 roads are given preference and then side roads when they can. When temperatures drop they go back to P1 and P2 routes. Teams have been out hand clearing side streets with shovels - I've seen footage of Crookes streets being cleared today.

 

I presume you have seen this site:

 

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/roads/travel/winter.html

[Mr Bloom 10]

My elderly mother lives on a bus route. It was not gritted when we had the boxing day snow and four days later was still not gritted and buses were not running along it, as it was treacherous.

 

I've been to visit her tonight. The bus route is impassable again. On my way home, I spotted a gritter coming down a parallel road that is not a bus route and gritting. Yet the bus route has still not been gritted.

What is THAT about?

[Dannibirdie 10]

My elderly mother lives on a bus route. It was not gritted when we had the boxing day snow and four days later was still not gritted and buses were not running along it, as it was treacherous.

 

I've been to visit her tonight. The bus route is impassable again. On my way home, I spotted a gritter coming down a parallel road that is not a bus route and gritting. Yet the bus route has still not been gritted.

What is THAT about?

 

just because it's a bus route doesn't mean it is a priority route for gritting.

[bigbill 10]

Hello to all, yes I have seen the articles that have been pushed in the local media. I also saw the article in the local media before all this weather arrived stating how ready Sheffield was and how good the responses would be. People will decide for themselves if this has been the case, as will I. This "round the world" claim may well be accurate, if SCC knows that it has gritted this huge distance surely it can tell us how many miles of road this involved(obviously they are aware of this thread). I have made a detailed FOI request, so that these "grandiose claims" can be measured against previous years. If they add up , fair enough, also it is not at all difficult to look on the Net and find out how various weather agencies have listed the snow fall in Sheffield over Boxing Night, I have seen various claims from 4 inches to 15 inches. Obviously I will take into account the validity and relevance of those making the claims. I will keep posting as and when.

 

Bill Stewardson

[Mr Bloom 10]

just because it's a bus route doesn't mean it is a priority route for gritting.

 

Why not? It should be, surely?

[Annie Bynnol 612]

..., also it is not at all difficult to look on the Net and find out how various weather agencies have listed the snow fall in Sheffield over Boxing Night, I have seen various claims from 4 inches to 15 inches. Obviously I will take into account the validity and relevance of those making the claims. I will keep posting as and when.

 

Bill Stewardson

 

Please can you let us know which " weather agencies " have listed the snow fall in Sheffield. Where do they get their information from?

 

As you have already been told snowfall cannot be measured accurately at most weather stations. Data is derived from measuring rainfall.

 

No forecaster system in the world has the ability to measure depth of snow over an area without resorting to anecdotal and so inaccurate observations.