Adaptability is key
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www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk DECEMBER 2013 Adaptability is key With winter approaching Josh Sweeney, strategic marketing manager at Multihog UK, looks at the importance of adaptability within highway maintenance operations First of all, let me begin with a declaration of my former naivety. Before working at Multihog UK, whilst studying at university, for me winter seemed bizarrely perceived as some sort of unofficial bank holiday on standby which was to be claimed at the first sight of snow. It is now apparent of course that this was an opinion formulated on the basis of experiences in the education system, surrounded by students, rather than any reality. Indeed, winter can be a woeful time to a number of people for a variety of reasons. Plummeting temperatures and heavy snow can cause extensive disruption to the transport network which in turn impacts on us all in some shape or form. It is estimated that the total cost of delayed journeys to both businesses and individuals is estimated to be around £280 million a day in England alone. My first winter working with Multihog emphasised the impact of ‘snow days’ (which I had previously viewed light- heartedly) on the local community and economy when director Nick Leadley volunteered a Multihog to plough and grit a rural village as it was unsafe for the local council’s conventional winter vehicles to access the narrow lanes. At the time councillor Dave Harling, executive member for regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, stated: “The weather has caused real issues for local residents and now thanks to Nick, it is safer for people to get to and from their homes and school.” In this instance, potential devastation and isolation were averted thanks to the resilience of a local firm but there is no doubt that winter maintenance planners always have a challenge on their hands because the weather, by its very nature, is volatile and inevitably adds to this. To me, this unpredictability associated with the British weather really accentuates the importance of an adaptable highway maintenance team and tools, especially for winter resilience. Preparation from practice David Mazurke is the group manager at Bradford Metropolitan District Council. He recently spoke at a winter maintenance event for public service excellence in which he explained how his local authority are prepared to overcome future challenges from these experiences. He said: “Since the heavy snow back in February 2009 and the subsequent severe winter in 2010 Bradford Metropolitan District Council planned to increase their winter maintenance resilience. “ The areas we looked at in detail were: Salt stocks and salt usage Fleet improvement Route planning Footway gritting. “Resilience has improved immensely since February 2009 but even the winter of 2012/13 presented the authority with a new challenge of the ever increasing discipline of winter maintenance. “Back in March 2013 the whole country encountered its coldest March for 50 years. Easterly winds were forecast from as early as 21 March, to reach 40mph through the night and road surface temperatures dropping to as low as -10°C. By the time this weather front had reached high ground, the winds had turned into blizzard conditions of up to 50mph, blowing snow off the fields and onto the highways causing two to three foot high snowdrifts.” Isolated communities Mazurke adds: “On 24 March A classified roads on high ground at 1,000 feet were closed. By the 25th the highway maintenance section which I led was receiving reports from contact centres, police and ambulance services that across the district there were several isolated communities who could not leave their houses to travel to shops, etc. The NHS was also struggling to deliver essential medical supplies to vulnerable people in these isolated communities. “One particular road in Bradford, aptly named Long Lane, is a mile in length and has a six to eight foot wall either side of the road which was covered in snow the whole length.” Bradford’s winter maintenance section were then forced to call in emergency equipment as a last resort including backhoe loaders and local 4x4 tractors to clear the snow. It took over three days to reach the isolated community. “If the section had in its fleet a snow blower this community could have been reached in less than eight hours,” notes Mazurke. “Scores of roads in the area were not cleared until the Easter weekend and additional machinery was called in for snow clearance. So, despite our efforts to increase our winter maintenance resilience over the last four years we had not planned for isolated communities, but for 2013/14
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Transcript of Adaptability is key
www.highwaysmagazine.co.ukDECEMBER 2013
Adaptability is keyWith winter approaching Josh Sweeney, strategic marketing manager at Multihog UK, looks at the importance of adaptability within highway maintenance operations
First of all, let me begin with a declaration of my former naivety. Before working at Multihog UK, whilst studying at university, for me winter seemed bizarrely perceived as some sort of unofficial bank holiday on standby which was to be claimed at the first sight of snow. It is now apparent of course that this was an opinion formulated on the basis of experiences in the education system, surrounded by students, rather than any reality.
Indeed, winter can be a woeful time to a number of people for a variety of reasons. Plummeting temperatures and heavy snow can cause extensive disruption to the transport network which in turn impacts on us all in some shape or form. It is estimated that the total cost of delayed journeys to both businesses and individuals is estimated to be around £280 million a day in England alone.
My first winter working with Multihog emphasised the impact of ‘snow days’ (which I had previously viewed light-heartedly) on the local community and economy when director Nick Leadley volunteered a Multihog to plough and grit a rural village as it was unsafe for the local council’s conventional winter vehicles to access the narrow lanes.
At the time councillor Dave Harling, executive member for regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, stated: “The weather has caused real issues for local residents and now thanks to Nick, it is safer for people to get to and from their homes and school.”
In this instance, potential devastation and isolation were averted thanks to the resilience of a local firm but there is no doubt that winter maintenance planners always have a challenge on their hands because the weather, by its very nature, is volatile and inevitably adds to this. To me, this unpredictability associated with the British weather really accentuates the importance of an adaptable highway maintenance team and tools, especially for winter resilience.
Preparation from practiceDavid Mazurke is the group manager at Bradford Metropolitan District Council. He recently spoke at a winter maintenance event for public service excellence in which he explained how his local authority are prepared to overcome future challenges from these experiences.
18 WINTER MAINTENANCE
He said: “Since the heavy snow back in February 2009 and the subsequent severe winter in 2010 Bradford Metropolitan District Council planned to increase their winter maintenance resilience.
“ The areas we looked at in detail were:
Salt stocks and salt usage Fleet improvement Route planning Footway gritting.
“Resilience has improved immensely since February 2009 but even the winter of 2012/13 presented the authority with a new challenge of the ever increasing discipline of winter maintenance.
“Back in March 2013 the whole country encountered its coldest March for 50 years. Easterly winds were forecast from as early as 21 March, to reach 40mph through the night and road surface temperatures dropping to as low as -10°C. By the time this weather front had reached high ground, the winds had turned into blizzard conditions of up to 50mph, blowing snow off the fields and onto the highways causing two to three foot high snowdrifts.”
Isolated communitiesMazurke adds: “On 24 March A classified roads on high ground at 1,000 feet were closed. By the 25th
the highway maintenance section which I led was receiving reports from contact centres, police and ambulance services that across the district there were several isolated communities who could not leave their houses to travel to shops, etc. The NHS was also struggling to deliver essential medical supplies to vulnerable people in these isolated communities.
“One particular road in Bradford, aptly named Long Lane, is a mile in length and has a six to eight foot wall either side of the road which was covered in snow the whole length.”
Bradford’s winter maintenance section were then forced to call in emergency equipment as a last resort including backhoe loaders and local 4x4 tractors to clear the snow. It took over three days to reach the isolated community.
“If the section had in its fleet a snow blower this community could have been reached in less than eight hours,” notes Mazurke. “Scores of roads in the area were not cleared until the Easter weekend and additional machinery was called in for snow clearance. So, despite our efforts to increase our winter maintenance resilience over the last four years we had not planned for isolated communities, but for 2013/14
DECEMBER 2013
we have now considered a specialist multifunctional snow blower.”
Multi-purpose maintenanceThe Multihog MH90 is a multi-purpose maintenance vehicle which enables organisations to deliver a lean approach to conventional operations because of its adaptability for all situations. The core idea is to maximise customer value whilst minimising waste, simply creating more value for customers with fewer resources.
Mazurke was first impressed by the productivity of the machine when the council initially looked at the Multihog and road planer attachment for the council’s permanent road repair scheme earlier this year.
The road registered Multihog is not only faster, safer and more efficient in many standard practices it undertakes, but its versatility enables the end-user the ability for all-seasonal utilisation. This in turn produces a variety of operational benefits as well as reducing overall costs.
Because of this the Multihog is also likely to be re-considered for its road planing ability next time round, on hot rolled asphalt road routes, when the Tour de France 2014 travels through the Bradford district next July.
Mazurke’s experiences at Bradford Metropolitan District Council highlight three important points: firstly, the unpredictability of winter, secondly, the severe impact it can have, and finally, the necessity of adaptability of resources.
From these experiences over the last winter, the council can now be equipped because of the highway maintenance section’s ability to utilise existing resources effectively for future scenarios (from originally road planing to potentially snow blowing with the aid of the Multihog and snow blower attachment).
Andy Johnston, operations manager at West Lothian Council, already has two Multihogs with snow blowers in his arsenal. He said: “The Multihogs’ initial performance leaves us in no doubt that we are well equipped for efficient clearance should the snow return.”
Last year the Met Office reported temperatures as low as -15.6°C in Lincolnshire as well as 16cm of snowfall in North Yorkshire and Herefordshire underlining the unpredictability of winter. Because of the increasing adaptability of resources within West Yorkshire or West Lothian both can be confident about any reoccurrence of severe snow.
“Director Nick Leadley volunteered a Multihog to plough and grit a rural village as it was unsafe for the local council’s conventional winter vehicles to access the narrow lanes”
WINTER MAINTENANCE 19
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HW_STABLISED-PAVEMENTS_JAN13 26/03/2013 16:21 Page 1
DECEMBER 2013
