Winter Service Operational Plan



UNCONTROLLED IF COPIED or PRINTED

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|AmeyLafarge |

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|WINTER SERVICE OPERATIONAL PLAN |

|Contract: |Highway Works Contract (Hertfordshire) |

| |HERTS-WINTERPlan-001 |

|Plan No: | |

|AmeyLafarge Statement of Intent |

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|AmeyLafarge are the principal contractor for Hertfordshire County Council. AmeyLafarge is a Joint Venture between Amey |

|Infrastructure Services and Lafarge Aggregates Ltd. |

|Hertfordshire County Council, AmeyLafarge and Mouchel Parkman together form Hertfordshire Highways. |

|Amey Lafarge have adopted Amey Infrastructure Services' Management Systems' for Quality Assurance, Environmental and Health and|

|Safety Management as the tool for Managing the joint venture business and all operations it undertakes. |

|Purpose: |

|This Winter Service Operational Plan is a statement of intent to ensure that the management of the Contract delivers the |

|Client’s requirements and those of BS EN ISO 9001:2000. It is a unique working document to provide guidance and direction for |

|the effective management of the winter maintenance service for the above Contract. |

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|The Winter Service Operational Plan identifies those practices, resources, activities, controls and procedures to be used on |

|the Highways Works Contract to deliver customer satisfaction and comply with the corporate management system. |

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|Agreed by: Date: |

|Hertfordshire County Council |

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|Agreed by: Date: |

|AmeyLafarge Project Director |

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|Approved by: Date: |

|AmeyLafarge Performance & Quality Manager |

RECORD OF REVIEW / REVISIONS

This management plan shall be reviewed during the summer period (between winter maintenance periods) and updated accordingly. The reviews, including nil returns, shall be noted below.

|Date |Topic of Change |Section(s) Changed|Rev No. |Approved |Agreed |

|May-03 |First Review |All |01 |Draft only |Draft only |

| |(not released) | | | | |

|June-03 |General Review for discussion |All |02 |Draft only |Draft only |

| |(not released) | | | | |

|Aug-03 |Improved format and updated names. |All |03 |BG |CP / SH |

|Sept 04 |Summer 2004 revision |All |04 |KK |SN |

|Sept 05 |Summer 2005 revision |3,7,8, |05 |ASC |SN |

| | |App D | | | |

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REGISTER OF CONTROLLED COPIES

|Copy No |Holder |Company / Organisation |Location |Rev & Date of First Issue |

|N/A |Performance & Quality |AmeyLafarge |Master copy on site |05 / Sept 05 |

| |Manager | |intranet / network shared | |

| | | |drive | |

|1 |Antelope House |AmeyLafarge |Policy Statements & | |

| | | |Management Plans Folder | |

|2 |Coreys Mill | | | |

|3 |Rotunda | | | |

|4 |Hoe Lane | | | |

|5 |Trident | | | |

|6 |South Mimms | | | |

|7 |Shire House | | | |

|8 |Kings Langley | | | |

|9 |Shared Drive |Herts CC |Highways House | |

|10 |Shared Drive |Herts CC |Antelope House | |

|11 |Shared Drive |Herts CC |Rotunda | |

|12 |Shared Drive |Herts CC |Trident House | |

|13 |Shared Drive |Herts CC |Shire House | |

|14 |Shared Drive |Herts CC |County Hall | |

CONTENTS

|Section No. |Topic |Page No(s) |

| |Distribution Register of controlled copies | |

|1 |Statement of Policies and Responsibilities |4 |

|2 |Objectives |4 |

|3 |Operational Periods and Priorities |5 |

|4 |Assessment of Need |8 |

|5 |Response and Treatment Times |9 |

|6 |Vehicles, Plant, Equipment and Material Resources |10 |

|7 |Organisational Arrangements & Personnel |13 |

|8 |Weather Prediction and Information |17 |

|9 |Operational Communications |20 |

| |Appendices | |

|A |Hertfordshire County Council's Road Network |21 |

|B |Depot Locations |22 |

|C |Calibration Procedures |24 |

|D |Trained Winter Service Operations Personnel & HCC Duty Officers |26 |

|E |Sub-contract letter of intent |27 |

|F |Winter Decision Making Process and Records |28 |

|G |Glossary of Meteorological Terms |31 |

|H |Route Plans |34 |

|1.0 STATEMENT OF POLICIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES |

|This Document describes the winter operational service for the Highway Works Contract and covers Hertfordshire County Council’s 3000-mile road |

|network. It is compiled in conjunction with the contract requirements - 2800 Winter Maintenance - Amendments to Specification for Highways |

|Works. |

|The network covered is shown in Appendix A. |

|Every employee who is involved with delivering the winter maintenance service shall be fully acquainted with and have access to this plan. |

|AmeyLafarge aim to provide an efficient and effective winter maintenance service, which as far as possible allows the safe movement of traffic |

|on Hertfordshire County Council's road network, keeping delays and accidents caused by adverse weather conditions to a minimum. |

|The arrangements include utilising personnel and plant available within all operations 24 hours a day, to enable precautionary salting of the |

|network in accordance with specified response and treatment times. |

|The operations will be carried out from four winter maintenance depots located at South Mimms, Kings Langley, Stevenage (Corey's Mill) and Ware|

|(Hoe Lane), using specialised plant and equipment. |

|Appendix B shows the locations of these four depots. |

|2.0 OBJECTIVES |

|To comply with the general duty imposed by Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980: to maintain those highways maintainable at public expense in a |

|safe condition. |

|Maintenance and safe condition are not defined, but case law and further sections of the Act assist. They are generally regarded as connoting |

|fit for the level and type of use that can be anticipated on the particular road in question. |

|Section 150 imposes a duty to remove obstructions such as snow and ice and it should be noted that this duty applies not just to highways |

|maintained at the public expense but also to private streets (i.e. those over which the public has right of passage). |

|In seeking to meet both Sections 41 And Section 150 duties, Hertfordshire County Council undertakes to provide a winter maintenance service |

|which as far as reasonably practical will permit safe movement and minimise delays and accidents directly attributable to adverse weather |

|conditions. |

|The courts have recognised that is impossible for all roads to be salted or cleared and that when there is a transient danger to the elements, |

|the existence of danger for a short time is not necessarily evidence of a failure to maintain the highway. However, the existence and |

|implementation of an appropriate weather checking and response system is essential if liability for damage is to be avoided. |

|3.0 OPERATIONAL PERIODS AND PRIORITIES |

|Hertfordshire County Council uses as a guide in establishing its priorities, the recommendations of the Local Authorities Code of Good Practice|

|for Highway Maintenance. |

|Weather in Hertfordshire, like the rest of the Country, is difficult to predict and the occurrence and extent of wintry conditions varies |

|considerably throughout the season and from year to year. |

|The winter maintenance season is from 1st October to 30th April. This period may be altered should conditions dictate. |

|In order to achieve a reasonable balance between the need for winter maintenance service and the operational cost, the season can be broken |

|down into three main periods. These periods are shown in the table below. |

|3.1 Operational Periods |

|Period Time (Months) Weather Conditions |

|High December, January, February Severe - Probable |

|Medium November and March Severe - may occur |

|Low October and April Severe - not expected |

|For Practical Operational purposes there is no distinction between High, Medium and Low periods. However they do serve to highlight the need |

|for a greater degree of availability of resources during the High period. |

|Winter maintenance operations are geared to safe movement of traffic but to achieve this there has to be some distinction between the relative |

|importance of one road compared with another. This is achieved by identifying in broad bands the relative priority of classes of road as shown |

|in section 3.2. |

|3.2 Route Planning for Carriageways, Footways and Cycleways |

|3.2.1 Road Priorities |

|Priority Number |Description |

|Priority 1 |Primary Roads |

|Priority 2 (a) |Main Distributor Roads |

| |Secondary Distributor Roads |

| |Roads serving significant industrial areas and shopping centres |

|Priority 2(b) |Scheduled Bus Routes |

| |The growth of mini and midi buses within towns has raised the question about which bus routes should be |

| |singled out for special treatment. In general terms the small buses have greater manoeuvrability than |

| |conventional single and double decker buses therefore the routes where these buses operate will not be |

| |singled out for special treatment |

| |One road to each village |

| |Urban cycleways open to mopeds where accessible to vehicle mounted or towed spreaders |

|Priority 3 |Other roads with steep gradients in urban / residential areas |

| |Rural roads with poor drainage where the remainder of the road network running or standing water is a |

| |hazard |

|Priority 4 |The remainder of the road network |

Precautionary salting is to be carried out on all priority 1 and 2 roads when conditions dictate that salting is necessary unless the Duty Officer decides otherwise.

The precautionary salting network routes will be as agreed with the Winter Maintenance review group.

No other road other than priority 1 and 2 roads should be included in precautionary

salting routes.

Some roads already included for precautionary salting have been added historically and may no longer meet the priorities as shown above. However this does not set a president for other similar roads to be included in precautionary salting.

From time to time there may be operational reasons why some roads do not receive precautionary salting on every occasion. Typical reasons are due to roadworks, heavy parking, or attacks on salting vehicles.

|3.2.2 Footway Priorities |

|1 |High Traffic |Town and City centre and outside local community shops plus footways linking transport interchanges |

|2 |Medium Traffic |Busy Urban footways leading from housing estates to town and city centres. Frequently used public |

| | |amenities. Main streets in villages |

|3 |Low traffic (High Risk) |Housing estates with high incidence of defects due to age of footway extensive utility trenches or |

| | |vandalism. Lengths where there are significant high numbers vulnerable users e.g. outside old |

| | |peoples homes |

|4 |Low Traffic-Urban |Housings Estates and other urban footways |

|5 |Low Traffic Rural |Little used rural footways |

|3.2.3 Road closures, diversions and Road Traffic Collisions (RTC) |

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|For planned road closures, consideration should be given to the effect on the salted road network. Usually it will be the diversion route that |

|is salted, unless the scheme promoter has instructed that the closed section of road is to also receive salting. Even where a non-precautionary|

|road is to be closed, the scheme promoter should assess if the increased traffic on the diversion route warrants a change to salting practices.|

|Where a road closure without special instructions, or an unplanned closure such as an RTC, is encountered by a salting vehicle, the default |

|will be to salt the alternative route or signed diversion route. Further instruction may need to be sought for part time closures where the |

|untreated closed road section may be reopened to traffic while temperature are still below or may fall below zero. |

|4.0 ASSESSMENT OF NEED |

|The need to carry out winter maintenance in the form of precautionary salting or snow clearing is determined by the onset of adverse weather. |

|Weather conditions can vary across the County due to local topography, wind, humidity and altitude. Unlike coastal or mountainous areas the |

|variations in Hertfordshire are small and often insignificant. |

|Identification of the need relies very heavily on frequent, accurate weather forecasts. It is only in the last few years that professional |

|weather forecasters have looked at the specific needs of Highway Authorities. The result is a growing understanding of the conditions that |

|adversely affect the road network. Many Highway Authorities including Hertfordshire have invested in Ice Warning Systems, which supply valuable|

|weather data to forecasters and facilitate more accurate local forecasts. |

| |

|Monitoring of the weather forecasts shows variations in their accuracy when comparing them with actual conditions. This variation is not |

|consistent but generally forecasts err on the pessimistic side and instances of frost or snow occurring when none were forecast is small, |

|generally below 2%. Action taken on the basis of forecasts can result in a decision to salt roads when no frost actually occurs. Improved |

|accuracy of forecasting therefore has the potential to save money. |

|The use of more local data determining the likely weather pattern is a means of limiting the wastage of resources and assists the weather |

|forecasters providing data to improve decision-making. Hertfordshire has installed an Ice Warning system known as Icelert for recording weather|

|conditions at a number of sites on major roads in the County. |

|The data recorded by this system is available for use by Weather forecasters in their forecast model to improve the local data on which |

|forecasts for the County are based. |

|Frost will form when the road surface temperature reaches 0°C. In many instances road surface temperatures can differ significantly from air or|

|ground temperatures and the appearance of frost on grass and car windows can be a misleading guide to action required on the roads. As a |

|general rule precautionary salting must be considered whenever road surface temperatures are forecast to be + 1°C or below to allow for the |

|inconsistency in weather forecasts. |

|Some of the difficult conditions facing the officer dealing with winter maintenance (The Duty Officer) are: |

|Frost forecasts after rain - salting too early could result in the salt being washed away, but salting too late could result in widespread |

|formation of ice |

|Freezing conditions coinciding with rain - this almost inevitably results an ice forming. Salting prior to rain will delay the effect, but |

|unless temperatures rise quickly following commencement of rainfall the Duty Officer is left with an impossible task |

|Rapid falls in temperature due to changing cloud conditions - this is very difficult to predict and unless salting has been carried out in |

|anticipation mobilisation times are too long for salting to be effective until sometime after ice has formed |

|During heavy snow falls the resources available and the reliance on up to date information limit the effectiveness of any operation to keep |

|roads clear. Hindrance by the rapid build up of traffic also has a significant influence on the effectiveness of any plan of action. |

|5.0 RESPONSE AND TREATMENT TIMES |

|The effectiveness of any winter maintenance action relies on response at the right time and completion within a time that is practical. |

|During High, Medium and Low periods decisions are required on a daily basis. The target time for reaching a decision is 15:00 hrs. This ensures|

|that the salting crews can be aware of any action that they are required to take before they leave the depot. It also ensures that the Local |

|Area Offices can be informed before their crews leave the depot. At weekends the same target is achieved, although crews will be notified |

|individually at their homes. |

|For the majority of occasions this time is satisfactory but there will be instances where decisions have to be made in response to predicted or|

|actual conditions at other times of the day and night. |

|Spreading of salt is normally undertaken after the evening peak traffic period or before the morning peak. Under most circumstances frost on |

|the road surface does not form until late evening or early morning, but where earlier frost is forecast salting will be carried out during the |

|afternoon before the evening peak. |

|Peak periods are generally 07:30 to 09:00hrs and 16:30 to 18:30 hrs |

|Salting within these peak periods could delay the salting operation due to heavy traffic flows this could extend the completion time beyond the|

|required times |

|Treatment routes and shift arrangements have been organised to achieve defined standards of response and treatment times on the specified |

|network highway hierarchy. |

|Definitions: |

|Response Time is defined as the time taken from the decision to begin precautionary treatment until the winter maintenance vehicles are loaded,|

|manned and ready to commence actual salting. |

|Treatment Time is defined as the time as the time taken from leaving the compound in order to begin treatment of the network through to |

|completion of the treatment. |

|Response and treatment times are indicated in the following tables - Response and Treatment Times for Principal Roads and Response Treatment |

|Times for All Other Roads. |

|5.1 Response and Treatment Times for Principal 'A' Roads |

|PERIOD RESPONSE TIME TREATMENT TIME (HRS) |

|(HRS) 10grams/m² 20grams/m² 40grams/m² |

|High Risk 1 2 2 4 |

|Medium Risk 1 2 2 4 |

|Low Risk 1 4 4 8 |

|5.2 Response and Treatment Times for All other Roads |

|PERIOD RESPONSE TIME TREATMENT TIME (HRS) |

|(HRS) 10grams/m² 20grams/m² 40grams/m² |

|High Risk 1 2.5 2.5 5 |

|Medium Risk 1 2.5 2.5 5 |

|Low Risk 1 5 5 10 |

|The response time takes account of the distance between home and depot for many of the salting crews and the time taken for the decision to |

|reach all the crews. The treatment times takes account of the lower speeds, general road layout and other traffic, and is a balance between a |

|longer period using larger but fewer vehicles and a shorter period using smaller but more vehicles |

|6.0 PLANT, VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT AND MATERIAL RESOURCES |

|6.1 Salting Routes and Snow Plough Fleet |

|The current gritting fleet for season October 2005 to April 2006 is as follows: |

|18No. Dedicated Gritters 6m³ - New Econ units mounted on Mercedes Benz 1835 |

|4No. Dedicated Gritters 9m³ - New Econ units mounted on Mercedes Benz 1835 |

|13No. Econ Unibodies 4.85m³- new units |

|16No. Schmidt demountables |

|2 Econ Cycleway units |

|All have Econ snowploughs |

|The gritters will be fitted with equipment, which complies with the requirements of BS 1622:1989 and Clause 2816AR of the Highway Works |

|Contract. |

|The gritters will be mechanically maintained by Econ Engineering Limited. |

|Econ Engineering Limited, Boroughbridge Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1UE |

|Tel: 01765 605 321 |

|For the attention of: Jonathan Lupton |

|The Schmidt gritters will be maintained by Schmidt UK |

|Schmidt UK Ltd, Southgate Way, Orton Southgate, Peterborough, PE2 6GP |

|Tel: 01733 363300 |

|All Contact, Maintenance, Breakdown and Hire arrangements for contract plant should be initially obtained from Amey Fleet Services. |

|Amey Fleet Services, Appleford Road, Sutton Courtney, Nr Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4PP |

|Tel: 01253 844 710 |

|For the attention of: Ralph Fordham or Clive Brooks |

|Testing of the spreader and coverage performance of all gritters will be undertaken by Econ Engineering Limited to ensure capability of |

|symmetrical and asymmetrical spreading in accordance with Class A1 requirements of BS 1622:1989. Calibration procedures are shown in Appendix |

|C. |

|All tests shall be completed by the last week in September unless otherwise agreed with Hertfordshire County Council. |

|Snowplough blades shall be adjusted so that the wearing strips are within 10mm of the road surface over the whole length of the blade. Any |

|damage or worn wearing strips will be replaced or turned as a matter of routine. Snow ploughs and wearing strips shall on every occasion of use|

|be checked, adjusted and repaired as necessary for optimum performance. |

|Where prevailing weather conditions dictate, it may be necessary to utilise additional resources. This may be in the form of labour and plant |

|from various sources. |

|The existing labour force and plant resources will always be utilised in these situations. In the unlikely event that the existing resources |

|are not sufficient, additional labour and plant will be sourced from existing sub-contractors on the network. |

|Details of contacts for farmers are maintained in a separate register held centrally at Highways House and at the Area Offices. |

|6.2 SALT |

|Fine Rock Salt to BS 3247:1989 (minimum 6mm) shall be used as the prime material for combating snow and ice. It is however recognised that salt|

|is also environmentally unfriendly therefore to gain the most economic and environmentally satisfactory solution, the minimum amount of salt |

|will be used to obtain the best effect. |

|Salt shall not contain any other substances that will cause hazard to human beings, animals, fish or plant life under normal conditions of use |

|of the salt. |

|A NAMAS approved laboratory will be used when any Salt Certification is required. Each certification will be forwarded to Hertfordshire County|

|Council. Certificates will be provided for every 500 tonnes of salt supplied. |

|The target rates of spread of salt are given in Section 5 Response and Treatment Times - Principal Roads and Response and Treatment Times - All|

|other Routes. |

|To obtain and retain the most economical rates of spread, every gritter will be calibrated and checked annually prior to 30th September in |

|accordance with current regulations. |

|Spread patterns and widths of spread will be checked to avoid wastage. |

|Salt will be supplied by Salt Union Limited. |

|Salt Union Ltd, De-Icing Business, Winsford Rock Salt Mine, Winsford, Cheshire, CW7 2PE |

|Salt stockpiles will be stored under covered salt barns at the 4 Winter Maintenance Depots. The required contract commencement maximum and |

|minimum salt stock levels (during each winter service period) shall be maintained as table below. |

|Depot |Required Stock Levels for Commencement of|Minimum Stock |Maximum Stock (Tonnes) |

| |2005/06 Season (tonnes) |(Tonnes) | |

| |

|6.3 TREATMENT METHODS |

|Precautionary Salting |

|The philosophy behind Winter Maintenance operations is wherever possible, to carry out pre-salting before ice forms or snow settles on the |

|road. To enable this to be undertaken effectively depends on a mixture of local knowledge and experience, good local weather forecasts and |

|knowledge of the state of the road at the time (i.e. is it wet or dry, salt covered or not etc). |

|Essentially, precautionary salting is planned as a result of weather forecasts to pre-set spread rates. |

|Rates of Spread for Precautionary Salting |

|For frost, salt shall be spread at 10-20grams/m². |

|When frost is expected after rain the rate of salt spread shall be for heavy salting i.e. 20-40grams/m², delayed as late as possible to reduce |

|the salt loss by run off unless freezing conditions coincide with rainfall. |

|When continuous snow is forecast, salt shall be spread at 20-40grams/m² according to the anticipated severity of the snowfall. Every effort |

|will be made to ensure enough salt is applied before snow starts to stick to the road to melt the initial snowfall and to provide a wet |

|surface. |

|Treatment of Ice already on the Road |

|When ice has formed on the road surface a salt spread of 20-40grams/² should be used. |

|Treatment of Snow |

|Snow ploughing shall be undertaken as soon as snow depths exceed 40mm. Each pass of a plough shall be supplemented with a salt spread of 20-40 |

|grams/m² depending on the prevailing conditions. |

|Should the temperature continue to drop and the need for ploughing continues, salt spread rates should be increased to 40 grams/m² |

|Light snowfalls may call for ploughing where local drifting has occurred, or to remove snow not dispersed by traffic. This may occur where |

|traffic is reluctant to use outer lanes of dual carriageways, or at night when traffic is light. |

|If snow depths reach 120mm, or when tackling drifts or when working on gradients, ploughing may be undertaken without salting as the weight of |

|the load may aid vehicle traction. As soon as the situation is under control spreading will be resumed. |

|Where heavy or prolonged snowfalls accumulate on well-used footways, arrangements will be made to clear a route for pedestrians as soon as |

|practical. If freezing conditions persist, footways cleared of snow should be given a light salting to melt the ice. |

|Clearance of snow from less heavily used footways will depend upon the anticipated duration of freezing conditions. Provided the more heavily |

|used footways have been cleared and freezing conditions are expected to persist, then these footways may be cleared |

|Treatment of Hard-Packed Snow and Ice |

|If hard packed snow and ice conditions exist at temperatures down to -5°C and provided that this layer is no more than 20mm thick, removal |

|shall be by successive salt spreads at 20 - 40 grams/m². |

|At temperatures between -5°C and -10°C where hard packed snow and ice is more than 20mm thick it may be necessary (in exceptional |

|circumstances) to complete two runs. The first run will involve spreading 5mm down sand or grit. The second run will be at the required salt |

|spread at 20-40 grams/m2. |

|7.0 ORGANISATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS AND PERSONNEL |

|All works associated with winter maintenance operations will be carried out in accordance with AmeyLafarge Area Health and Safety Plans. |

|A schedule of operatives involved in the winter service operations can be found in Appendix D - Personnel Schedule. |

|In order to provide the required response to weather conditions, winter service operations staff will operate a combination of standby at home,|

|standby at compounds, in addition to normal and continuous shifts. |

|Other groups may be employed directly by AmeyLafarge where health and safety requirements for working on the highway can be met. Beyond normal |

|precautionary salting operations, the Winter Service Manager may call upon additional resource to assist with secondary salting and clearance |

|of snow and ice. The level of this resource will be dependent on the severity and extent of the conditions. Resources come from Farmers, other |

|Local Contractors, and District/Borough Council staff. Availability of resource differs from one District/Borough to another depending on what |

|contractual arrangements are in place or whether a Direct Labour Organisation exists. |

|A sample letter of sub-contract intent is contained within Appendix E. |

|Duty Schedules and Standby Rotas will be available centrally at Highways House and at Area Offices. |

| |

|Definitions: |

|Call Out is defined as off duty personnel available for duty as demand arises but without any prior commitment to be available. |

|Stand by is defined as personnel committed to be available to report to the depot or direct to a route within 1 hour of being called out from |

|elsewhere or home. |

|Normal shift is defined as personnel on duty at the depot or at a work place during normal working hours. |

|Continuous shift is defined as personnel on duty at the depot on patrol, gritting or ploughing route. |

|In all cases a weather controller, duty supervisors and labour are provided to ensure that treatment of the whole network can be completed in |

|accordance with Clause 2802AR of the Highway Works Contract. |

|7.1 DECISION MAKING |

|Hertfordshire County Council's Duty Officer will instruct the AmeyLafarge Winter Service Manager by 1500hrs each day during the operational |

|winter period whether to precautionary salt or confirm if the level of standby is required, using telephone links and a further email or fax |

|confirmation. |

|The AmeyLafarge Winter Service Manager will communicate the appropriate action required to AmeyLafarge operatives. |

|All operatives involved in the winter maintenance service will be trained to National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) standard. Training |

|requirements for operatives will be assessed and reviewed periodically by the Winter Service Manager and using the Training Request Form, Form |

|Ref. 1000-PLC -HR506/03. |

|Decision-making will be made along the guidelines shown in Appendix F, Winter Decision-Making Process and Records. |

|During the High, Low and Marginal periods daily weather forecasts specific to Hertfordshire County will be available to the County Duty Officer|

|under contractual arrangements with the Forecast Provider. The Duty Officer will be able to speak to the Forecaster to discuss the forecast |

|received or general weather conditions at any time of day or night. |

|Using the forecast information and his knowledge of existing road conditions obtained from the Icelert MK6 system the County Duty Officer will |

|be responsible for determining the appropriate action for the whole County. The Duty Officer will clearly state when precautionary salting |

|should commence and the rate of spread to be used. No system of visual inspection will be utilised although observations reported through |

|normal daytime operational activities would be valuable in assessing existing road conditions. |

|Normally precautionary salting will be carried out outside working hours. The Duty Officer must decide whether this should be after the evening|

|peak or before the following morning peak. |

|Salting of the Priority 3 and 4 network will only be when instructed by the HCC Duty Officer. |

|If an instruction is issued the priority 3 network will only be treated when all priority 1 and priority 2 roads are operational to the |

|standards set down in this plan. |

|If an instruction is issued the priority 4 network will only be treated when all priority 1,2 and 3 are operational to the standards set down |

|in this plan. |

|7.2 SNOW CLEARANCE |

|The decision to move to the snow clearance operation shall be made by the HCC Duty Officer following consultation with the Winter Service |

|Manager and Salting Supervisors. |

|The Winter Service Manager and his team will then control this operation. |

|Until a pattern becomes clear the majority of ploughing vehicles should be concentrated on priority 1 and 2(a) roads. Sufficient resource must |

|be deployed to these roads to establish as rapidly as possible one clear lane in each direction. In the most severe cases it may be necessary |

|to deploy all available resource to these roads. It is essential to maintain free flow on the major routes to minimise delay and unsafe |

|conditions. These routes will also provide arterial network to enable plant and equipment to reach lesser priority roads when necessary. |

|When the Winter Service Manager is satisfied that the priority 1 and 2(a) roads are operational to the standards set down, he should deploy the|

|ploughing vehicles to priority 2(b), then priority 3 and 4. |

|The operational resource will not move from priority to priority until all the higher priority roads are to the operational standards. |

|When a call is received regarding the build up of snow from a member of the public, the caller should be informed that all available resources |

|have been deployed in the deliverance of the Winter Service Operational Plan, and all roads will be treated by their priority rating. |

|These priority roads have been predetermined and will be treated in the order as stated in the plan. This may mean that once all main routes |

|are clear and resources allow attendance at the lesser priority roads, the thaw may have already set in. |

|When attending to the network in priority order should reports of ice or snow be received on a priority already treated, then that priority |

|should be revisited. Should the report of ice be on a salted route then that information would be passed to the Winter Service Manager who will|

|discuss this with the HCC Duty Officer. |

|Throughout the snow clearance and treatment of the priority 3 and 4 the Winter Service Manager will keep the HCC Duty Officer informed. Each |

|Area office will be kept up dated of the operation and given constructive feedback of the situation through AmeyLafarge Area Managers. |

|Specific requests from the police and area offices will be co-ordinated through the AmeyLafarge Network Manager but the total resource will be |

|controlled by the Winter Maintenance Manager and his deputies. This will ensure a consistent approach countywide enabling updated reports on |

|the situation to be issued both at local and central level. The reports should include details of closed roads. |

|The HCC duty officer will be kept up to date on the situation at all times via the Winter Service Manager or his deputies at a maximum of 2 |

|hour intervals unless another time limit is agreed at a local level. |

|Clearance of Snow and Ice on Footways |

|As with carriageways the footways will be dealt with in strict priority order, and will be treated with the same priority system. |

|The Environment Systems unit will determine the priority of the footways with input from the area offices. |

|7.3 REPORTS OF ICE ON THE PUBLIC HIGHWAY |

|Information from the police or emergency services will be actioned |

|Clarifications should be sought as to whether the report relates to one specific site, or a general area. Try to clarify that the slipperiness |

|is in fact caused by ice, and is not either a diesel spill or a result of the salt itself which will be slippery when in solution. |

|Reports should be dealt with, not necessarily by direct action, but within reasonable priorities as described in this plan. |

|Report of ice on a precautionary salting route |

|All reports of ice on the precautionary salting routes will be actioned. |

|If precautionary salting has not been instructed, contact the HCC Duty Officer who may then consider instruction of a full precautionary salt |

|depending on forecast conditions. |

|If a salting outing is due to commence within less than 1 hour, no further action is required, as the instructed salting will treat this site. |

|If precautionary salting has already taken place, first contact the Salting Supervisor to determine if plant breakdowns have occurred. If this|

|is not the case, contact the HCC Duty Officer as the applied salt quantity may not be sufficient to clear the site, and further salting action |

|may be considered depending on forecast conditions. |

|Report of ice on a non-precautionary salting route. |

|Only the following reports will be normally actioned (unless post salting is instructed, see below) |

|Request following an accident where ice is a contributory factor |

|Where an incident has caused a significant increase in traffic onto a non-precautionary salting route. (Note, during precautionary salting |

|outings, signed diversions routes for temporary road closures will be salted as a matter of course. A closure occurring after a salting run |

|will not have had its diversion route salted. A diversion route removed after a salting outing has taken place may have not have had the |

|normal precautionary road salted as it was closed). |

|Any other incident causing a significant increase in traffic, e.g. a motorway closure, or major event. |

|After fire-fighting activities where significant amounts of ice (or potential for) on the highway surface have occurred. |

|Where seepage or localised flooding has occurred and there is significant amount of ice (or potential for ) on the highway surface |

|Where a maintenance failure has been identified and has not yet been fixed |

|Burst pipes. The leak will be washing away salt even if precautionary salting has taken place. In the first instance the water authority |

|responsible, under the New Roads and Street Works Act, must be given the opportunity to remove the ice. Hertfordshire Highways can arrange |

|salting and recharge. If the owner of leak is unknown, action should be taken to treat the ice or potential for ice |

|Such action would normally be in the form of hand salting, or salting using a reserve gritter. It should be limited to the area affected and |

|is not intended to treat the whole road or footway |

|In extreme circumstances it may be necessary to sign areas, or cone off roads or areas of Highway if the police feel the potential hazard is |

|great. |

|The target time to respond is 2 hours. |

| |

| |

| |

| |

|Routes to schools |

|Whilst it is recognised that walking routes to schools are increasing, it is not practical to undertake salting on footways, or roads, to all |

|schools in the county. Those schools serving the highest numbers of pupils are those most likely to be serviced by scheduled bus services or |

|high usage footways so are likely to receive pre or post salting. Where it is felt that untreated roads or footways leading to a school (or |

|indeed the untreated areas within the school itself) pose a significant risk to pupils, the headteacher may decide that it is a safer option to|

|close the school during severe weather. The headteacher will also be considering other pressures effecting the operation of the school such as |

|advice from police or motoring organisations that journeys should not be made which will effect availability of teaching staff and other |

|services at the school should it remain open. |

|Post Salting |

|When prolonged sub zero temperatures are forecast, temperatures below 0ºC |

|For a long period of longer than 48 hours, post salting will take place. This allows a programmed approach to dealing with ice off of |

|precautionary salting routes. |

|The public can be assured that “Hertfordshire Highways will deal with ice on the highway with the reasonably expected resources as required by |

|the Winter Service Operational Plan, treating the highest priority roads first.” |

|These priorities have been predetermined and will be treated in the order as stated in the plan, which may mean that by the time all main |

|routes are clear and resources allow attendance at the lesser priority roads the thaw may already have set in. |

|Additional salting resources may be used during this period. |

|Snow |

|Snow fall of less than 40mm will not normally require any further action than precautionary salting unless prolonged sub-zero temperatures are |

|forecast. |

|For snow falls in excess of 40mm or when drifting occurs, post salting will take place as soon as is practicable. This allows a programmed |

|approach to dealing with ice on non-precautionary salting routes. |

|The public can be assured that “Hertfordshire Highways will deal with snow on the highway with the reasonably expected resources as required by|

|the Winter Service Operational Plan, treating the highest priority roads first. |

|These priorities have been predetermined and will be treated in the order as stated in the plan, which may mean that by the time all main |

|routes are clear and resources allow attendance at the lesser priority roads the thaw may already have set in. |

|Additional salting resources may be used during this period. |

|Reports of ice off the public maintainable highway |

|No action will be taken to treat ice on private roads(i.e. where there are no public right of highway rights) |

|Some private arrangements may be in place with AmeyLafarge. |

|Salt Bins |

|Salt bins are provided in over 700 locations across the county for 'self help' during icy highway conditions. Establish if the reported site is|

|near a salt bin and self-help may provide a more effective result than adding the site to a prioritised list. |

|These bins will be refilled after a prolonged snow or ice period. |

| |

| |

| |

|Railway Level Crossings |

|No salt should be spread across railway crossings |

|If there is a problem with ice or snow accumulations at these locations the Railway authority must be consulted before any action is taken. |

|Boundary Arrangements with Neighbouring Authorities |

|There are a number of local arrangements with neighbouring authorities where a road length will be salted crossing over the boundary. |

|This is done where a road crosses in and out of a boundary or where it makes operational sense to complete road lengths before turning the |

|vehicle around. However, the default is that a salting decision for the county of Hertfordshire should see all the precautionary salting routes|

|treated, and therefore Herts Highways salting routes will include salting up to the boundary. |

|All arrangements with neighbouring authorities must be agreed through the strategic client. |

|Agreed arrangements are as follows: |

|A111 Stagg Hill from Cockfosters Road to M25 J24 (London Borough of Barnet) |

|A1005 The Ridgeway to M25 J24 (London Borough of Enfield) |

|Mutual Aid |

|Whilst it is not possible to document detailed arrangements for every scenario which may occur during severe weather , Hertfordshire Highways |

|will seek to fulfil its obligations under the Traffic Management Act to ensure expeditious movement of traffic on its own roads, and on those |

|of adjoining authorities, by providing assistance to its neighbours, and expects the same in return. |

|Agreements on mutual aid exist with the agents of the Highways Agency where their Motorways and trunk Roads run through the county. |

|8.0 WEATHER PREDICTION AND INFORMATION |

|Forecasting Services |

|Winter Weather forecasting service throughout the winter service period 1st October 2005 to 30th April 2006 inclusive will be provided by PA |

|Weather Centre: |

|PA Weather Centre Ltd, PA News Centre, 292 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, SW1V 1AE |

|For the attention of Alan Howling, RoadCast Manager |

|A full forecasting service will be available throughout this period. |

|The Weather recording system, Findley Irvine ICELERT MK6, is provided and maintained by Findley Irvine. Full contact details are: |

|Findley Irvine Limited, 42 / 44 Bog Road, Penicuick, Midlothian, Scotland, EH26 9BU |

|For the attention of Tom Findley, Business Development Manager. |

|There are 9 Weather-recording outstations located on the Hertfordshire County Council Road Network including 3 forecast outstations. These are |

|detailed in the table below |

|The Visala outstation will be maintained via Findley Irvine with the approval of Visala. |

|Surface sensors are cleaned pre-season and mid-season or more regularly where required. It is recognised that surface sensors give an |

|indication of salt concentrations but should be used as a guide only in the decision making process. |

|SITE REF. |SITE LOCATION |O/S GRID REF. |PROVIDER |

|A505-LL |A505 Lilley |TL 126 263* |Findley Irvine |

|A120-BST |A120, Bishops Stortford |TL 486 233 |Findley Irvine |

|B136-BGH |B1368,North of Hay Street, Braughing |TL 393 268* |Findley Irvine |

|A119-STP |A119,North of Stapleford |TL 310 173 |Findley Irvine |

|B487-HH |B487,Redbourne Road, Hemel Hempstead |TL 093 107 |Findley Irvine |

|B488-TRG |B488,New Mill, Tring Wharf |SP 927 131* |Findley Irvine |

|A4147-HH |A4147, Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead | TL 077084 |Findley Irvine |

|U53-OFF |U53, School Lane, Offley, Bridge Deck Site |TL 141 275 |Findley Irvine |

|A41-CR |A41 Cow Roast |SP 953 097 |Visala (via FI) |

|C183-HC |C183 (Old A10) North of High Cross, near Barwick |TL 366194 |Visala (via FI) |

*Indicates forecast outstations

|Forecasts |

|4 Weather forecasts will be provided no later than 13h00 daily throughout the operational winter period: |

|24hr General |

|2-5 Day |

|Site Specific (from 3 forecast outstations) |

|Morning Summary (to be provided daily by 08h00) |

|A glossary of terms used in Meteorological Forecast can be found in Appendix G - Glossary of Meteorological Terms. |

|Forecast information provided will include the following details; |

|24 Hour General |

|This shall include for, in text format :- |

|General synopsis with location and timings over the following 24 hour period. |

|Minimum air, road surface and bridge deck temperature predictions for agreed climate / administrative zones and the timing of 'zero crossing' |

|if appropriate. |

|Probability of precipitation or deposition on road surfaces with location and timings. |

|If appropriate, the location and timing of snowfall predicted depth and type, the direction from which the snow will arrive, probability of |

|drifting and the height above which accumulation is likely. |

|Location and timing of thick ( ................
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