Salt supplies arrive in time for big thaw

TENS OF thousands of tonnes of salt for use in gritting roads are to continue to arrive in Ireland over the next three weeks as contracts sourced by the National Roads Authority (NRA) are fulfilled.

The authority, which has built up a county by county inventory of salt supplies, said it expects the stock nationally to rise to about 50,000 tonnes, just short of an average winter requirement, by about the end of the month. But it rejected any suggestion that the stockpile was arriving too late as temperatures rise and rain washes icy roads and paths clear of ice and snow. A spokesman pointed out that “winter is not over” and salt supplies would be required to clear roads on frosty mornings and icy days for some time to come.

As the political fallout from the big freeze continued, the NRA insisted it was not at odds with Minister for the Environment John Gormley over when it was tasked with overseeing the State’s salt resources. The spokesman said Mr Gormley was absolutely correct in saying the authority had been co-ordinating delivery of salt to local authorities since before Christmas, even though the formal appointment had only been made last Thursday.

The chairman of the National Emergency Response Coordination Committee, Sean Hogan, paid tribute to local authorities and the NRA, which he said had worked hard to keep main roads open.

Responding to criticism at the Oireachtas Environment Committee yesterday, Mr Hogan said he did not accept that the country had “ground to a halt”, pointing out that but for a few small stretches, national roads had remained open throughout the cold spell.

Commenting on the cost of the operation, the NRA said it had allocated €7 million to local authorities for gritting national roads in 2009, and had topped this up in recent weeks with a further €3m. Given that a whole winter’s supply had been used in the past three weeks, the spokesman said it could be deduced that keeping the national roads clear had cost in the region of €10m. However, this cost does not include gritting secondary or local roads, for which local authorities may use their roads maintenance budget.

Meanwhile, motorists have been cautioned to be careful on roads which were treated with crushed stone instead of or in addition to salt. The NRA has warned of a “ball bearing effect” where car wheels throw up stones potentially causing serious damage to other vehicles windscreens or paintwork.

“This is one of the reasons why engineers prefer to use salt to treat the roads”, said the NRA spokesman.