Salt and grit supplies running out

There is less than 13,000 tonnes of salt left in the State to keep key main roads open before the next shipment arrives on Wednesday, according to the National Roads Authority.

The authority, which was using up to 5,000 tonnes a day in the recent cold spell, said the average use of salt is between 2,500 and 3,000 tonnes per day.

Last evening, the salt reserves were at 15,000 tonnes and this is expected to have dropped to, at best, 12,500 this morning . In the worst-case scenario this would leave the State with just 2.5 days’ supply, or in a best case, five days.

The Irish Times understands the delivery date of next Wednesday is plus or minus one day and the authority will have lorries waiting at the dock in Cork when the salt is ready to unload. A 10-hour period has been allocated to get the salt to its intended spreading area.

The authority said salt would have to be conserved by local authorities and used only on key national and strategic routes over the weekend.

Fine Gael transport spokesman Simon Coveney told The Irish Times plans should have been in place to distribute salt and grit for use in housing estates and local and regional roads, as well as on key strategic routes. He said if this required the State to buy more salt, then it should have been done.

The authority repeated its view that current temperatures created an “unprecedented situation”. Spokesman Seán O’Neill said the recent cold snap had affected different parts of the country at different times, requiring the shipment of salt around the country at short notice.

Mr ONeill said 80,000 tonnes was ordered last July, of which 55,000 were delivered by November.

This combined with a stock level of about 30,000 tonnes. In recent days this had included 1,000 tonnes of salt per day sourced from Northern Ireland.