FREE GUIDANCE AND RESEARCH RESULTS

Information on how to join the NWSRG can be found here.
 

Following the last two severe winters and to promote interest in the new Phase 3 Practical Guidance document, which is currently being produced (see below), the NWSRG members have decided to give away free the following documents:

Best Practice Guidance for Spreading Salt (2005)
NSSRG Phase 2 Summary Report

The Phase 2 Summary Report contains the Executive summaries from the following Phase 2 reports:
Winter service of footways and cycleways
Review of residual salt measurement techniques
Salting trials - Staffordshire
Dissolution rates of de-icers
Skid resistance of de-icers
Salting trials - M62 Goole

To obtain free electronic copies of the guidance and report please contact nwsrg@trl.co.uk (you will also be asked to complete a short questionnaire)

PHASE 3 NOW UNDERWAY 

Work towards the new practical guide for winter service has now begun. 

A detailed proposal for the new guidance can be found here.

Since the Best Practice Guide for Spreading Salt was produced in 2005, the guidance has been overtaken by new research, changing requirements and other events. A “Practical Guidance for Procurement and Delivery of Winter Service” is currently being developed for the NWSRG under the Phase 3 work programme which covers the key drivers for winter service. The new guide will provide practitioners with a “what you need to do and how to do it safely, sustainably and cost effectively” approach rather than just list high level legislation, policy requirements and aspirations. This guidance will link to the relevant parts of Well Maintained Highways.

The National Winter Service Research Group (NWSRG), formerly the National Salt Spreading Research Group (NSSRG) was formed in 2001. The aims of the group are:

• To carry out pioneering research into the use of Sodium Chloride and other de-icing materials to prevent the formation of, and aid the removal of, ice and snow from the highway

• To identify the most cost efficient and effective methods of de-icing

• To form, on a national basis, a long-standing research group to further advance the understanding of the effective de-icing of highways.

The work programme is set out by the members of the NWSRG steering group. Two phases of research have now been completed and details of the work carried out can be found below.

Phase 1
Phase 1 of the research, carried out from 2001 to 2005, concentrated on trials to advance understanding of salt and spreader performance. The trials enabled an assessment to be made of different salt distribution systems and de-icers, and the effects of trafficking on residual salt levels. A report on the trials and a best practice guide on spreading salt were produced.

For further information, please e-mail nwsrg@trl.co.uk