A-one+ rolls out new winter technology

Highways contractor A-one+ will help keep the North East moving this winter after investing in new technology that will make gritting the roads safer and more effective.

Installed in depots across the North East, four specialist brine tanks produce a solution that, when mixed with dry salt, begins to work the minute it is placed on to the road. Each tank holds 22,000 litres of brine – enough for six gritters to each complete a full spraying circuit of up to 120km.

Traditionally, gritters spread dry salt on to roads in cold conditions, which only begins to work after traffic has driven over it, grinding it down in to a liquid solution.

With temperatures set to plummet this weekend, the brine tanks will be used to protect the region’s strategic road network for the first time. By mixing brine with dry salt, the roads are given immediate, but long-lasting protection from ice.

Peter Hancock, network operations manager for A-one+, said: “These tanks are a significant investment for A-one+ but in terms of accuracy and the confidence we now have in our gritting operation they are worth it.

“The brine solution works straight away so everyone can be more confident that the motorways and trunk roads will be safer than ever to drive on in icy conditions.”