Tag Archives: gritting

Gritting

How gritting works

The University of Kent’s Landscape Management team are always up early and working hard to keep the campus safe and serviceable for all. During icy weather, they grit the campus roads and footpaths to reduce the risk of accidents to staff, students, and visitors.

What many people do not realise is, there is a fine art to gritting. Timing is everything. If you go too early, you waste the grit, because it lands on a dry road and is blown away by the displaced air as vehicles drive past. If it is raining heavily then it just washes away. Ideally the grit goes down on a damp surface and starts to stick, but if you are too late the surface is already frozen and the salt has to work harder to be effective but it will prevent big sheets of ice forming.

The salt is hygroscopic which means that it attracts moisture from the air and it only becomes activated when it is ‘trafficked’. When the grit is driven over the salt grinds down and mixes with the moisture it attracts and becomes the ideal brine, a salty water, which is when it is most effective.

Similar to how local authorities manage gritting, the Estates department will grit all University of Kent roads and main footpaths before starting on other areas across the campuses. Further information on the prioritised primary routes can be found on Goggle Maps.

For more information see the University’s Snow and Ice Policy.

Understanding gritting

Timing is everything with gritting. If you go too early, you waste the grit, because it lands on a dry road and is blown away by the displaced air as vehicles drive past. If it is raining heavily then it just washes away. Ideally the grit goes down on a damp surface and starts to stick, but if you are too late the surface is already frozen and the salt has to work harder to be effective but it will prevent big sheets of ice forming.

The salt is hygroscopic which means that it attracts moisture from the air and it only becomes activated when it is ‘trafficked’. When the grit is driven over the salt grinds down and mixes with the moisture it attracts and becomes the ideal brine, a salty water, which is when it is most effective.

Similar to how local authorities manage gritting, the Estates department will grit all University of Kent roads and main footpaths before starting on other areas across the campuses. For more information see the University’s Snow and Ice Policy

Learn about snow clearing.

Understanding snow clearing

Snow ploughs only work effectively when snow is more than 5cm (2inches) deep. If snow fall reaches this level, Grounds Maintenance will use a combination of snow ploughs and other methods to clear the snow as snow ploughs cannot go over road humps or similar traffic calming measures.

Grit does not melt snow and therefore grit cannot be applied on top of deep snow. Refer to understanding gritting for more information on how gritting works.

Similar to how local authorities manage snow clearance, the Estates department will aim to clear all University of Kent roads and main footpaths before starting on other areas across the campuses. Please refer to the University’s Snow and Ice Policy for more information.

Understanding gritting

Timing is everything with gritting. If you go too early, you waste the grit, because it lands on a dry road and is blown away by the displaced air as vehicles drive past. If it is raining heavily then it just washes away. Ideally the grit goes down on a damp surface and starts to stick, but if you are too late the surface is already frozen and the salt has to work harder to be effective but it will prevent big sheets of ice forming.

The salt is hygroscopic which means that it attracts moisture from the air and it only becomes activated when it is ‘trafficked’. When the grit is driven over the salt grinds down and mixes with the moisture it attracts and becomes the ideal brine, a salty water, which is when it is most effective.

Similar to how local authorities manage gritting, the Estates department will grit all University of Kent roads and main footpaths before starting on other areas across the campuses. For more information see the University’s Snow and Ice Policy

Learn more about snow clearing.

Understanding Gritting

Timing is everything. If you go too early, you waste it, because it lands on a dry road and is blown away by the displaced air as vehicles drive past. If it is raining heavily (like yesterday afternoon) then it just washes away. Ideally it goes down on a damp surface and starts to stick, but if you are too late the surface is already frozen and the salt has to work harder to be effective but will prevent big sheets of ice forming.

The salt is hygroscopic which means that it attracts moisture from the air and it only becomes activated when it’s ‘trafficked’. So when it’s driven over the salt grinds down and mixes with the moisture it attracts and becomes the ideal brine, a salty water, which is when it is most effective.

Estates staff have all been working hard to ensure that the University can continue to operate during these adverse weather conditions. Please be aware that Canterbury campus is over 300 acres and has many walkways, steps, roads, car parks, accessible ramps and cycle routes. Similar to how local authorities manage gritting, we grit these areas according to their priority as not all areas can be covered at all times.

We would like to thank Grounds Maintenance at Canterbury campus and FM team at Medway campus for being on site last night and the early hours of this morning to make sure the priority roads and footpaths are gritted.