26 November 2019

Winning gritter names announced

After much anticipation, judges have announced the winning names of Aberdeenshire Council’s fleet of main gritters.

At the end of October, the council launched a competition for pupils and staff at Aberdeenshire’s 152 schools to name the region’s 32 main gritters.

There was a tremendous response to the competition, with the following winning names being picked out among the six local areas:

Banff & Buchan
The Grittinator, The Nitty Gritty, Frosty the Snow Van, Gritie Express, Far’s ‘A the Sna?
Marr
Plougher ‘O Scotland, The BFG (Big Friendly Gritter), Gritty McGrit Grit, Vincent Van Grit, Gritty Greta, Grit-Zilla, Snow Slayer, Spready the Eagle, Gritty Bitty, Benna-Skit
Buchan
Gritterasaurus, Kitty McGritty, Icy Spicy, Grittings Got Talent
Formartine
Sir Chilly Connolly , The Gritalow, Sleeting Beauty, The Big Yin, Grita Thawberg
Kincardine & Mearns
Gritty Gritty Bang Bang, Grit The Road Jack, Spready Gonzales, The Grittest Snowman
Garioch
Thaw Patrol, Haddo Nuff O the Sna, Alexander the Grit, Gritney Gears

This competition coincided with the launch of the council’s winter resilience campaign. With the days getting shorter and temperatures starting to fall, the Roads Service is gearing up to ensure the safety of residents travelling throughout Aberdeenshire.

The council’s entire fleet of 54 gritters, support vehicles, and more than 200 dedicated roads staff are poised to keep the area moving and ensure our residents and businesses can travel and operate as freely as possible through potentially challenging conditions.

The council's Head of Roads, Philip McKay, explains: "The primary road network receives preventative treatment with gritters and ploughs starting a morning treatment at 5.30am and finishing an evening treatment no later than 9pm each day when necessary.

"To reduce instances of unnecessary gritting, sub-zero road temperatures need to be forecast for 48 hours before priority three roads are treated."

The council also runs a volunteer snow warden scheme, which is aimed at supporting and assisting communities and individuals during winter weather. Applications are still being accepted for the program. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/AShireSnowWardens  

For more information on the council’s winter maintenance programme go to: http://bit.ly/WinterRdsMaintenance  

To see the council’s planned gritting for each day, go to: http://bit.ly/AShireGritting

For information on road closures and restrictions, go to: http://bit.ly/Road-closures  

You can also follow roads updates from the team on Twitter @AbshireRoads