Ploughing the roads of Norway more than ever before
Last winter, a total of 26.5 million kilometres were ploughed on the Norwegian road system. This is an increase of as much as 22 per cent compared to the winter before.
“The main reason for the ploughing record is that the in the winter of 2017/2018 was more snow than normal in the Regions South, East and West,” Chief Engineer in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Kai Rune Lysbakken tells the newspaper Nationen.
“The previous record was set in the winter of 2015/16 – with a total of 21.4 million kilometres of snow ploughed. Snowy winters in the Southern and Eastern parts of Norway, often result in a large impact on the amount of ploughing, sanding and salting carried out,” Lysbakken informs.
“It is precisely in these parts of Norway that we have the largest share of roads with a lot of traffic. These roads also have stricter requirements for just winter operation,” Lysbakken continues.
Steady increase
A recent report from the Norwegian Public Roads Administration on the use of resources for the winter operation further shows that in the last seven years there has been a steady increase in snow ploughing on Norwegian roads and streets, a total of 40 per cent growth in seven years.
“The growth from 16.6 million kilometres in 2011/12 to 26.5 million last winter represents an increase in ploughing of almost 10 million kilometres in seven years,” the Chief Engineer elaborates.
“An objective of less use of salt on Norwegian roads and streets will also require both more frequent and better ploughing on road sections with heavy traffic,” according to him.
“The road sections where salt is used during snowy weather is the selfsame sections where we also have the strictest requirements for snow ploughing,” Lysbakken concludes.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
