School children who won a competition to name our gritting and maintenance trucks have been given the chance to see inside one, as part of a tour of our highways depot.
During their visit the lucky winners got to jump in the cab of ‘Buzz IceClear’, where they had fun lifting the plough, flashing the lights and honking the horn.
They learnt all about winter road safety before taking a look inside the city’s salt barn and seeing Buzz IceClear up close. They then got to watch another gritter in action and see how the salt sprays out the back.
Competition sponsor QC Engineering, who made the name signs free of charge, gave them all a sticker sheet of the gritters to take home.
SWH (our road maintenance provider) also gave the children goody bags with a personalised ‘appointed gritter driver’ armband, stationery, a picture of their individual gritter, a lanyard and a squishy helmet – and they even got to keep their child-sized hard hats and hi-viz gear!
SWH Fleet and Plant Manager Eric Pidgeon said: “A great day was had by all and educating the younger generation on winter safety will hopefully provide lessons that they will take with them into future life.
“Additionally, by getting the children involved in the construction industry from a young age, we hope to spark an interest in highway maintenance and have a new set of gritter drivers in a few years’ time!”
Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport and Planning said: “It’s great for young people, who may even become the highways and construction workers of the future, to get a glimpse into what happens behind the scenes. I hope they all had a really fun day and took away some useful tips on staying safe on the city’s roads in winter.”