Melting roads cost €8k a day to grit

Westmeath County Council was spending €8,000 a day gritting melting tar roads during the recent heat wave.

During the two weeks where temperatures regularly hit the mid to high twenties, four council trucks were deployed to grit local roads that were literally boiling in the unusally hot weather.

At July’s Municipal District meeting, director of services Martin Murray revealed that the four trucks were depositing up to 50 tonnes of grit a day at a cost of about €8,000.

Mr Murray said that while the hot temperatures had a “detrimental effect” on some roads, it is hoped that the damage wasn't too extensive.

“We have minimised that [the damage] in terms of the corrective action that we quickly took,” he stated.

He also noted that the costs of the rare summer gritting programme may have an impact on the roads budget in the coming months, unless additional funding can be sourced.

Cllr Johnnie Penrose was among councillors who praised council staff for the promptness at which the responded to calls about melting roads in the Ballynacargy area and other parts of the district. Cllrs Frank McDermott and Una D'Arcy also praised the districts road staff for their efforts to keep local roads safe.