Somerset County Council’s gritters are on standby to treat ‘melting’ road surfaces as the county prepares for extreme temperatures in the next few days.
With an Amber Weather Warning in place and the Burnham-On-Sea weather forecast showing temperatures are set to hit 29C this weekend and 35C in coming days, road temperatures could become high enough for the asphalt to soften and melt. This makes the road surface unstable and potentially hazardous.
To remedy the problem Highways teams will be using two pre-loaded 18-tonne gritters to spread stone dust on melting and sticky roads – additional HGV drivers are on stand-by to ensure swift reaction. There are 60 tonnes of additional stone dust at depots in Dunball and Glastonbury.
The stone dust absorbs the soft bitumen and helps to stabilise the road.
Somerset’s Executive Lead Member for Transport and Digital, Cllr Mike Rigby told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We’ll be monitoring the situation carefully and our teams are prepared and ready to head out to any trouble spots so they can be dealt with swiftly.”
“If you do spot a problem please do call our contact centre immediately or if it’s at the weekend call 101 for Avon and Somerset Police they will relay the location to our teams.”
You can reach the contact centre on 0300 1232224.
If you spot a problem on the road you can report it quickly and easily by visiting www.somerset.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/report-a-problem-on-the-road/
