Council acts with sand as some roads can’t stand the heat

AS SHETLAND enjoys an unprecedented period of ‘hot’ weather with temperatures hovering around the 20 degrees mark, the council’s road department had to spring into action as some road surfaces started to melt.

Shetland Islands Council (SIC) road workers were out on Monday to spread sand on a number of roads, mainly in the Brae area.

These were:

• the A970 through Brae;
• the road between the Lower and Upper Gremista roads (mainly used by Shetland Transport, now DFDS);
• the A970 in Brae at its junction with the Burravoe Road; and
• the A970/B9076 ‘Brig o’ Brae’ junction near the Co-op.

A spokesperson for the SIC said road surface temperatures were as high as 45 degrees during the middle of the day, causing the bitumen to melt and bleed to the surface of the road.

“These areas (see above) have only recently been surface dressed,” they explained.

“The bitumen binder used in the process hasn’t had the opportunity to age so is susceptible to melting in prolonged periods of hot weather.”

In the case of the A970 through Brae, because of the narrower carriageway through the village the surface dressing is overlapped at the centreline meaning there is twice the volume of bitumen, the council explained.

The spokesperson added: “The spreading of sand is to stop bitumen being picked up on vehicle tyres where it can get sprayed up onto the vehicle’s bodywork.”

The forecast is for the summer weather to continue for a while yet but with more in the way of clouds towards the second part of the week.

See full forecast at: https://www.shetnews.co.uk/weather/