Birmingham snow response and warning (Dec 22/23)

All routes to be treated from around 03:30 (Dec 23).

We would ask people to consider their own personal preparedness ie dressing in warm clothing; safe driving ie making sure their windscreens are clear; and good neighbourliness ie keeping an eye on those who might be older or more vulnerable.

Weather disruption round-up – http://weather-disruption.birmingham.gov.uk/

Local volunteers from the Open Street Map project have kindly mapped gritting routes onto their map. While we can accept no liability for any errors, we’re very grateful to them for their contribution.

You can view the gritting map by visiting: http://mappa-mercia.org/gritting-map.shtml

Weather Updates

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2102

Met Office: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/wm/wm_forecast_weather.html

Birmingham City Council inundated with repairs calls

Birmingham City Council has revealed it is still dealing with more than double the number of calls to its repairs contact centre compared with this time last year, as the temperatures remain below zero and the snow continues to fall.

During last weekend when the snow gripped the city almost 2,700 calls were made, compared to a typical weekend with 900 calls.

Since then, tenants who require repair works to their homes have continued calling in high numbers,over 6,300 calls received on Monday and over 7,900 on Tuesday.  Officers have worked hard to deal with hundreds of extra calls.

As a result of the high volume of calls being dealt with, the average time to answer has increased, as has the average handling time of dealing with each call.

A pre-recorded message on the repairs line has been actively managed over this period in order that the council’s contractors can get in touch with tenants who are unsuccessful in having their calls answered.

The council aims to dispatch an engineer to its customer within 24 hours. In times of greatest demand, customers calls are dealt with on a priority basis, with help going first to those in greatest need.

Councillor John Lines, Cabinet Member for Housing said: “Due to the adverse weather conditions, the council has been flooded with extra calls during this very cold period. We are carrying out repairs on much higher number of properties than usual and with over 65,000 properties under our management, we are working hard to meet the needs of all our tenants.

“When I first became Cabinet Member in 2004, only 30% of council properties had central heating systems in their homes and I’m proud that now almost all our homes are warm. However, when there are repairs problems, we will work with our contractors to fix any problems.”

The council is advising that people wrap up warm in the cold weather with extra layers of clothes or blankets and keep the heating on to create a steady temperature. Customers experiencing heating system failures can ring the contact centre on 0121 303 1111.

A brief science of gritting and ploughing

• Although the process of road salting is referred to as gritting there is in fact little or no grit involved. What is actually spread on the roads is mined rock salt (Sodium Chloride) of a size and composition for road use.
• Rock salt was first used for the purposes of winter road maintenance in the 1940′s and is an effective de-icer for areas that receive road traffic.
• It is a hydroscopic material in that draws moisture to it and also draws heat from the environment rather than releasing it.
• The rock salt is spread on to the road in varying rates of spread dependent on the severity of the conditions.
• The effectiveness of rock salt on roads is enhanced by vehicles passing over larger granules and grinding it into smaller particles spread across the road surface area. This then forms a solution with a higher de-icing capability.
• Whilst water freezes at 0°C, the presence of the salt prevents water from freezing until -6°C to -8°C.
• However, salt starts to become less effective at -5°C and almost ineffective at lower temperatures.
• In extremely low temperatures, or heavy snowfall, a mix of salt and grit may be used to aid traction.

Ploughing

• In relation to snow ploughing this provides the ability to remove large accumulations of snow from the centre of roads.
• However it should be recognised that ploughing has limitations in that it effectively skims the road surface leaving around 30-50mm of snow on the surface.
• It can also result in large amounts of snow accumulating at the sides of roads and on footways and following prolonged periods of gritting can reduce the overall effectiveness of de-icing operations by removing slush which has a high level of salt solution.

Inaccurate media reporting of council salt supplies

A claim that the council placed a ‘reduced order’ of salt this year compared to last is categorically untrue.

So far this year, the amount of salt either used, in stock or on order is 18,000 tonnes. Further orders will be made as necessary. The council ‘batch orders’ salt, so the 6,900 tonnes mentioned in the story is simply the first of many orders and the stock is regularly replenished. Therefore information used from an FOI request is essentially a snapshot of a fluid situation.

We would like to assure residents that we continue to keep the city moving, as we did last winter when many areas of the country faced severe challenges.

Birmingham gritting alert (Dec 21)

All routes to be treated from 19:00.

We would ask people to consider their own personal preparedness ie dressing in warm clothing; safe driving ie making sure their windscreens are clear; and good neighbourliness ie keeping an eye on those who might be older or more vulnerable.

 

Weather disruption round-up – http://weather-disruption.birmingham.gov.uk/

Local volunteers from the Open Street Map project have kindly mapped gritting routes onto their map. While we can accept no liability for any errors, we’re very grateful to them for their contribution.

You can view the gritting map by visiting: http://mappa-mercia.org/gritting-map.shtml

Weather Updates

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2102

Met Office: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/wm/wm_forecast_weather.html

Birmingham snow response and warning (Dec 20)

Snow ploughs have been out throughout the day and will continue to clear the network.

Gritting: All routes to be treated from 14:00 in preparation for the evening peak traffic.

We would ask people to consider their own personal preparedness ie dressing in warm clothing; safe driving ie making sure their windscreens are clear; and good neighbourliness ie keeping an eye on those who might be older or more vulnerable. 

 

Weather disruption round-up – http://weather-disruption.birmingham.gov.uk/

Local volunteers from the Open Street Map project have kindly mapped gritting routes onto their map. While we can accept no liability for any errors, we’re very grateful to them for their contribution.

You can view the gritting map by visiting: http://mappa-mercia.org/gritting-map.shtml

Weather Updates

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2102

Met Office: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/wm/wm_forecast_weather.html

Winter weather statement

Statement on Birmingham City Council response to adverse weather:
Issued on Monday 20 December 2010

Cllr Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “All A (radial) roads, B roads and all major bus routes have been gritted at least five times since Friday night. We have an agreed hierarchy of gritting for a number of years and this has stood us well in the past and in the current period of bad weather.

“I would like to express my thanks to the gritting teams working non-stop on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday to ensure that the City was as open and accessible as possible for business on Monday morning.

“Heavy snow will always disrupt traffic and transportation as it is falling. Our programme does mean that we can recover within a reasonable time. While traffic disruption was severe and widespread our recovery on Saturday and Sunday was perceived by many to have been a success.

“In addition to the dealing with the volume of snow, the extreme low temperatures have reduced the effectiveness of gritting.

“Our focus remains keeping the main roads fit for traffic so that Birmingham can get to work and that visitors can access the city centre.

“We have been working with the bus operators to try to improve the public transport situation and have had some success in having routes put back in place.

“All areas across the country affected by heavy snow have suffered disruption and we should see the quality of the response in Birmingham in that context.

“The city centre car parks were full on Sunday, Birmingham was open for business and this shows that our programme was effective.

“We will continue to use all the resources at our disposal to keep the roads as clear as possible.”

Birmingham gritting alerts

The www.birminghamnewsroom.com server has been unstable throughout the day so to ensure vital information remains available, gritting alerts will also be posted here.

Birmingham gritting alert – Dec 6

Precautionary treatment of all routes from 20:00.

Local volunteers from the Open Street Map project have kindly mapped gritting routes onto their map. While we can accept no liability for any errors, we’re very grateful to them for their contribution.

You can view the gritting map by visiting: http://mappa-mercia.org/gritting-map.shtml

Weather Updates

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/2102

Met Office: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/wm/wm_forecast_weather.html

LED revolution to light up Birmingham

A groundbreaking programme to replace more than 95,000 street lights in Birmingham with state-of-the-art Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology which will cut carbon emissions and improve safety is to be launched this week.

The cutting edge lights will not only reduce carbon emissions by up to 50% and be brighter than traditional lights, but they will also enable operators to control and adjust their levels remotely according to what is happening in the surrounding area.

The replacement work is being carried out by Birmingham City Council and Amey, one of the UK’s leading public service providers, as part of a £2.7 billion Highways Maintenance and Management Service Partnership Contract. This Partnership will see the upgrading and maintenance of the city’s road network over the next 25 years.

Cllr Timothy Huxtable, Cabinet Member for Transportation and Regeneration, said: “As well as the significant environmental advantages of this work I have no doubt that the LED street lights will also help to greatly improve the safety, security and the general environment of streets in the city.  Whether it be pedestrians, cyclists, motorists or businesses in the city, the LED and wider Highways programme will play a leading role in improving the quality of life for all and setting this city apart from all others.”

Birmingham currently has more than 95,000 street lights, of which 41,000 will be replaced over the next five years alone.

Mike Notman Project Director at Amey said; “For a project of this scale, the energy savings, carbon reduction and virtual elimination of light pollution are unprecedented. We have been working closely with Birmingham City Council and WRTL to achieve better outcomes for the local people of Birmingham and support the council in meeting their carbon reduction target by 2026.”

The new street lights have a number of advantages over the current street lights that are in place:

• Residents will feel safer when walking down previously poorly lit streets as the LED lights are brighter, they allow a wider spectrum of colours to be seen and as well as facial features to be distinguished. This is not achievable with traditional lighting, which creates an orange glow and making colours indistinguishable
• Reduction in energy and carbon emissions by up to 50%
• Lighting levels on traffic routes will be determined by traffic flow.  Traditionally the road has to be lit to the required standards at peak times and throughout the night. The new technology will allow the varying of light remotely to match traffic conditions
• The new LED lights direct light downwards reducing light pollution and the ‘orange glow’ which appears above the city.
• Amey and the Council are working closely with local company WRTL to ensure that Birmingham has one of the most advanced lighting solutions in the world today.