The technical staff of the Territorial Delegation of Development together with the territorial delegate, Carmen Belén López, accompanied the heads of the Integral Road Maintenance Centres of Almería and the staff in charge of the maintenance of the Autonomous Road Network to Chirivel to close the Winter Road Safety Plan 2022-2023 in the province and to take stock of the actions that have been developed during the validity of this device.
The plan is designed to guarantee road safety on more than 300 kilometres (of the total 868 km of roads belonging to the Autonomous Region Network) at higher altitudes with a risk of snow and frost in the province of Almería. This is a tool to ensure that the road network is kept in optimal conditions in the event of possible storms from November 2022 until the end of March 2023.
The system is made up of 79 workers, 31 vehicles, including backhoe loaders, vans and 6 snowploughs distributed among the 4 maintenance centres in the province, as well as 2 support snowploughs operated by the Delegation’s own staff in Huércal-Overa and Almería.
In addition to the snow removal work, the Plan has also included the spreading of snow melt to prevent the appearance of ice sheets and encourage the thawing of fallen snow, for which purpose salt storage points have been distributed throughout the province to enable the operatives to replenish the salt during the different routes.
During this period, a total of 889 tonnes of salt have been stored at the Fiñana (144 tonnes), Huécija (10 tonnes in big-bag sacks) and Chirivel (550 tonnes in 2 salt bins) conservation centres, as well as at other points such as the Los Filabres (Tahal) service area on the A-349 road (25 tonnes in big-bag sacks), a silo at junction 108 of the A-92N in Vélez-Rubio (60 tonnes) and in the workers’ shed in Tíjola on the A-334 road (100 tonnes), as well as a new salt stockpile with a total of 25 tonnes in big-bag sacks on the A-1178 road, Pk 32+100, in the municipality of Olula de Castro, in the municipality of Olula de Castro. M. of Olula de Castro, designed to allow a better reaction of the operation in the area.
During the development of the Plan, a total of more than 300 tonnes of salt have been used. The province has suffered several rain and snow storms between January and February, which have required a full deployment of the available resources, as well as continuous work to extend preventive salt treatments to avoid the formation of ice patches.
In the northern area of the province (Los Vélez and María, Chirivel and Oria), on the night of Wednesday 18 January to Thursday 19, as well as on the nights of Tuesday 7 February and 11 February, mainly affecting the A-317, A-92N, A-334 and A-399 roads. During the first storm, due to the duration and intensity of the snow, it was necessary to provide support with the conservation staff of the Territorial Delegation located in Huércal-Overa to guarantee the circulation and safety of the roads.
In the central area (Nacimiento-Filabres), the work of the teams continued in January and February to clear mainly the A-1178 (Puerto de Venta Luisa 1,970 m), A-349 (Puerto de Collado García 1,240 m) and the dual carriageway A-349 (Puerto de Collado García 1,240 m). 240 m) and the A-92 motorway, also affected in this area by the same storms as before, as well as another one on the night of 24 January which did not reach the northern area and which also hit the southern area (Alpujarra in Almería), specifically the A-348 and A-391 roads, also requiring the support of the Delegation’s own resources throughout the night.