Winter maintenance service
How does gritting work?
Grit is another name for rock salt. We put it on roads to help stop ice forming. This makes driving safer.
Salt works by lowering the temperature at which water freezes. This means ice and frost are less likely to form on the road.
But if it gets very cold – below -10°C – salt does not work very well.
Salt also does not melt ice or snow straight away. It needs time to mix in. Cars driving over the road help with this because their tyres push the salt into the snow and ice, making it melt faster.
When do we grit the roads?
We grit roads from 1 October to 30 April. During this time, our team is ready to go 24/7.
We have 21 gritters, 2 spares, and 42 trained drivers. Gritting is planned using weather forecasts and road temperatures. Each gritter has a tracking system so we can monitor their progress. We also have 24 local farmers and contractors with snow ploughs to help when it snows heavily.
Before winter starts, we check and refill all grit bins owned by East Sussex County Council. We store around 10,000 tonnes of rock salt at five depots: Ringmer, Heathfield, Polegate, Cripps Corner, and Maresfield.
Operation Snowdrop
Every September, we complete a test run of all gritting routes to cut back overgrown hedges, contact residents about parked cars and help drivers learn their routes. This is called Operation Snowdrop.