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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
National
JJ Donoghue

South Gloucestershire roads gritted in heatwave to stop them melting

Roads have been gritted to stop them from melting in South Gloucestershire due to the heatwave that has hit the Bristol area this week.

Temperatures reached 26C yesterday, with warnings from the Met Office that there could be a 'danger to life' with forecasts of 28C on Saturday and 30C on Sunday. And South Gloucestershire Council has said that some road surfaces have reached temperatures of more than 55C.

The council has been spraying sand onto the roads to stop them from liquefying in case of 'extreme heat'. And people are being warned by the council's cabinet member with responsibility for the road network, Steve Reade, to drive carefully in the heat.

Read more: Bristol heatwave live: How hot will it get, Met Office warning latest, how long will it last for?

He said: "It’s certainly very hot! And, because the road surface is black, they absorb the heat.

"With an air temperature of 29 degrees, for example, (which we reached in places on Monday), the road surface itself can reach temperatures of more than 50 degrees.

"We have sensors in place across the network to record weather and road surface temperatures year-round and Monday’s peak, in Acton Turville, reached 55.9 degrees in the height of the afternoon sun. To help mitigate this, some of our gritters, which you would normally expect to see out at dawn to treat potentially icy roads, will be out all this week pre-emptively treating roads where we know from past experience, there may be issues.

"At extreme temperatures, the bitumen which holds the roads together can begin to liquify. By spreading sand on the roads, we can literally help the roads stick together in a way that doesn’t affect the surface for the rest of the year.

"As the week, and the heatwave continues, we will send the gritters out to areas that report problems. Please do drive safely and try to stay cool." This time last year a woman in Bristol said her shoe stuck to the road after a mini heatwave melted the surface.

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