Mike Hopwood of Hawkins' Highway Engineering team recently attended the annual Winter Maintenance conference, 'Cold Comfort', in Cardiff. Winter Maintenance is the term used by Highway Engineers for the business of predicting cold weather conditions and then gritting and ploughing icy and snow covered roads. Hawkins has investigated many cases where traffic accidents have occurred in icy road conditions, or there is an allegation that the road had not been gritted properly. Since a change in the law in 2005, duties relating to the gritting of UK roads have changed, and some of the hottest topics discussed included alternatives to gritting, legal defences to insurance claims, using pre-wetted salt, drivers' hours legislation and the gritting of bridge decks.

Conventional grit which many of us have seen on UK roads and car parks during winter is produced from mined rock salt, and is generally quite dry. As a result of it's dryness, it can fail to adhere to the road surface, leaving untreated patches on roads even after they appear to have been gritted. One solution has been the use of molasses, from sugar production, to coat the grit thus making it more 'sticky'. Many highway and road authorities are now changing to pre-wetted grit, which is a mixture of rock salt and brine spread onto the road surface. However, the use of pre-wetted grit introduces different problems in relation to freezing temperatures and a decrease in skidding resistance created by adding a wet substance to the road surface.

One speaker at the conference reported an increase in the number of traffic accidents on bridges during cold weather. Even with grit applied to the road surface, the temperature of a bridge deck can be much lower than surrounding roads, making the grit ineffective in combating ice. It was suggested that many highway and road authorities make no allowance for these isolated areas, leading to potential problems. A speaker from the Netherlands advised the conference that many bridges there have automatic de-icer sprays which trigger in certain conditions.

The conference was used by the Highways Agency to publicise their guide "Driving in Severe Weather". Seen by many as a useful addition to the Highway Code, the booklet offers guidance to drivers on how to drive in icy, foggy, windy and flood conditions and also gives advice on stopping distances and how to control a skid vehicle.

For advice on traffic accidents which might have occurred on an icy road, please contact Mike Hopwood of Hawkins on 01625 521210 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it