Cork County Council spread 4,500 tonnes of grit and salt during cold snap

More than 50cm of snow fell in parts of North Cork during last week’s cold spell, while more than 4,500 tonnes of salt and grit were spread on roads throughout the county, elected members attending today's meeting of Cork County Council were told in a report from a senior official.

Director of services Padraig Barrett gave councillors a detailed briefing of the council’s preparations for and response to what was described by some elected members as a snowfall comparable to similar wintry spells in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, as they thanked frontline council staff and others for their efforts during the last week of snow and ice.

Mr Barrett told councillors that issues had arisen also because of the weight of the snow which had caused trees to fall.

“The weather had been below freezing since January 1, and the roads were gritted on a daily basis each day up the current weather warning,” he said. “Since January 4, gritting/salting of routes has continued on a daily, twice daily, or thrice daily basis as and when required.

“The council’s focus was on ensuring that priority 1 and priority 2 routes were prioritised,” he said, describing this “as extremely challenging in the context of the heavy snowfall that was experienced throughout the county on January 4 and 5 and, in particular, in North Cork, North-West Cork and Mid-Cork though all parts of the county were impacted”.

Meetings

Mr Barrett said meetings had been held by a number of bodies dealing with the weather situation and its impacts from January 3. The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management met each day, the Cork County Council Severe Weather Assessment Team were also meeting daily, and the Cork County Council Crisis Management Team held nine meetings over the period up to January 9.

Meetings were also held by the Cork County Local Co-ordination Group, which includes senior representative of Cork County Council, An Garda Síochána, the Health Service Executive, the Defence Forces, ESB Networks, and Uisce Éireann.

Mr Barrett said that the county’s 25 vehicles — including snow ploughs, and salting and gritting trucks — were in constant use during the cold spell and that other vehicles were made available by the Defence Forces and Cork City Council.

“Snow ploughing was extremely challenging during snowfall on Sunday, January 5, especially with the high volume of commuter traffic on that day [post-Christmas holidays], impeding progress and effectiveness,” he said.

Damage to roads 

Mr Barrett added that the damage caused by the snowfall and the subsequent treatment of roads with salt and grit would be assessed over the coming days and weeks, stating: “Once the thaw is concluded, we will be engaging with the Departments of Local Government, Housing, and Transport on that.”

Councillors were fulsome in their tributes to the frontline workers of the authority who had been out in the weather and dealing with its impacts “morning, noon, and night”, and the work of the council’s customer response and communications teams was also singled out for praise. The work of community volunteers was also commended.