Bath tackles the cold with new winter fleet

30/01/2020 | CHRIS AMES

Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council has upgraded its winter maintenance fleet with eight new spreaders from Aebi Schmidt.

The unitary authority has opted for seven Mercedes-Benz 18T Arocs 4x4 1832 Stratos III 6m3 gritters and one Mercedes-Benz 26T Arocs 6x6 3340 Stratos III 9m3 gritter.

The new gritters will be operated by VolkerHighways, under its highways term maintenance contract with the council, which includes winter maintenance.

Craig Jackson, the council’s highway maintenance and drainage manager, who led the tender process, said: ‘We have been very impressed with the build quality of the Schmidt machines, which we specified with the latest Euro6 compliant Mercedes chassis and four and six-wheel drive.

‘We have already used them on a number of runs so far this winter, and so far so good. We expect them to be active now right throughout the winter season.’

Gary Peacock, deputy group manager highways and traffic, B&NES; Chris Young, Volker Highways, Kelvin Packer, group manager highways and traffic, B&NES; Craig Jackson

Aebi Schmidt said the Stratos III has been designed for ease of maintenance and low costs.

It also highlighted that the machine spreads accurately and uses a closed-loop hydraulic system to operate the conveyor belt and the spinner independently of each other.

The spreader uses an Evolution Smart (ES) control panel, which monitors the machine at a rate of 2,000 times per belt revolution and makes continual adjustments at 100 times per second to maintain accuracy.

The ES control panel also integrates with the Schmidt AutoLogic system, an automatic spreading system with GPS-guided routing, which B&NES has selected for all its new machines.

The GPS navigation guides the spreader driver along the correct route and the spreading settings occur automatically, enabling the driver to concentrate on traffic.

B&NES has also selected the Schmidt Winter Report, a web-based telematics system that shows where the spreaders movements in real-time. It is fully integrated with the ES control panel, requires no other hardware or software.

The council is responsible for gritting 263 miles across nine different routes out of a total of 683 miles, some 38% of all roads, with a huge variety of adopted surfaces to treat, ranging from the centre of the heritage city of Bath to A-class and B-class country roads and some remote rural roads.

It went out to tender under a framework agreement and then decided to purchase the new equipment outright, rather than lease it.

Highways InProfile

latest magazine issue
Highways jobs

Civil Enforcement Officers x 2

£26,403.00 - £28,142.00, Grade 5, 37 hours, Permanent
Parking Services are looking to recruit 2 full time Civil Enforcement Officers to complement its existing workforce. Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Senior Street Cleanse Technician x 3 (CDC)

Grade 6 £25,981 - £26,815
We are about to embark on an ambitious programme of change in our city. Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Recruiter: City Of Doncaster Council

Highways Development Officer

£37,280 - £40,777
This is an exciting time for a talented, self-driven professional to join us in the role of Highways Development Management Co-ordinator. Gloucester
Recruiter: Gloucestershire County Council

Principal Highways Development Officer

£48,226 - £51,35
This is an exciting time for a talented, self-driven professional to join us in the role of Highways Principal Development Management Co-ordinator . Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Recruiter: Gloucestershire County Council

Street Lighting Project Engineer

PO2 - £41,442 to £44,331
Help us keep our streets safe, efficient and ready for the future Greenwich, London (Greater)
Recruiter: Royal Borough of Greenwich

Principal Engineer - Highways Development Management

£47,181.00 - £50,269.00, Grade 11, 37 hours, Permanent
We are seeking a dedicated Principal Highways Development Management Engineer to join our team. Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Highways Development Management Engineer

£32,061.00 - £46,142.00, Career Grade 7-10, 37 hours, Permanent
Do you want to join a team helping to shape the future of Wakefield through HIghways Development Management? Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Highways Project Engineer

£31,537 - £42,839 per annum
Would you like to be part of our friendly, welcoming Highways team, proud to manage all aspects of the highway network? Boroughbridge, York
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Highways Project Engineer

£31,537 - £42,839 per annum
Would you like to be part of our friendly, welcoming Highways team, proud to manage all aspects of the highway network? Skipton, North Yorkshire
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Technician - Highway Inspector

Grade 8 £29,719 - £31,691 per annum
Within the Highways Maintenance Team we are looking for an enthusiastic, customer focused and experienced person Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Highway Design and Construction Manager

Grade N, scp50 £62,443 to scp53 £65,663 per annum, plus essential car user allowance
We embrace AI to enhance our operations and to innovate our services. Bolton, Greater Manchester
Recruiter: Bolton Council

Technician - Highway Inspector

Grade 8 £29,719 - £31,691 per annum
At Derbyshire, we have been on a journey to transform the way we deliver highway services. Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Team Leader (Maintenance Operations)

Grade 10 - £48,226 - £51,356
Cardiff is growing faster than any other capital city in Europe. Cardiff (Caerdydd)
Recruiter: Cardiff Council

Highways Supervisor

£Competitive
We have a fantastic opportunity for a permanent Highways Supervisor Forfar, Angus
Recruiter: Amey

Tree Surveyor

£Competitive
We are excited to offer fantastic opportunities for Permanent Tree Surveyors Scotland
Recruiter: Amey

Chief Operating Officer – South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee

£Competitive
We’re looking for a bold, visionary leader to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin)
Recruiter: Carmarthenshire County Council

Clerk of Works - Highways

£Competitive
We have a fantastic opportunity for a Clerk of Works to join our dynamic NMC SW Account team at Polmadie. Glasgow, Glasgow City
Recruiter: Amey

Highways Supervisor

£Competitive
We have a fantastic opportunity for a permanent Highways Supervisor to join our NMC NE account in Kinross. Perth and Kinross
Recruiter: Amey

Planner - Highways

£Competitive
We have a fantastic opportunity for Permanent Planner – Highways to join our NMC SW Account. Glasgow City
Recruiter: Amey

Highways Maintenance Manager

£51,356 - £55,539 per annum
We are looking for an experienced Engineer to join the team as a Highways Maintenance Manager Selby, North Yorkshire
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Latest Video

Subscribe to Highways today to ensure you keep your finger on the pulse of everything happening in the UK road network throughout the year.

SUBSCRIBE NOW