The Czech Road Management Office is ready for the winter season
Nearly two hundred snowplows, 44,000 tons of salt solution, and 830 maintenance staff are prepared for the challenges of this winter season at the Czech Road Management Office (ŘSD). The first tasks have already begun due to snow in the Krušné Mountains, Krkonoše, Jeseníky, and other higher-altitude areas. The first snowfall is forecasted on mountain highways in the coming days, and preparations are in place, for example, on the D1 highway near Vysočina. Based on meteorological forecasts, the road management centers coordinate where and when snowfalls are expected and direct snowplows accordingly. They are already operating at full capacity on the I/44 road through the Červenohorské Pass and other locations in the Olomouc region, where over the past two days, 50 tons of salt and more than 18,000 liters of salt solution have been used. ŘSD's own staff ensures the passability of approximately 1,100 kilometers of highways and main roads in total. The maintenance of highways is tasked to regional centers, where there is one center for approximately every 50 kilometers of highway. Prepared shifts include 677 drivers and 153 dispatchers, with a total of 196 snowplows at their disposal. Additional workforce and equipment for main road maintenance is on standby with service companies for the winter months. In total, 44,005 tons of salt, 2,715,000 liters of salt solution, and 1,516,000 liters of calcium chloride are ready, which is particularly helpful at very low temperatures when salt and salt solution are less effective.
Each winter, ŘSD uses approximately 40,000 tons of salt and about ten million liters of salt solution. For the 2023-2024 winter season, the cost of winter highway maintenance amounted to approximately 150 million crowns. **The movement of snowplows can be tracked online** Again in this season, the Pohyby vozidel zimní silniční údržby web portal is available, where the movement of snowplows can be tracked at udrzba.rsd.cz. Details on road accessibility are also available on the National Traffic Information Center's website at www.dopravniinfo.cz. The map shows routes and the current locations of vehicles, and the color of the routes changes depending on the time since the last treatment of the road surface. Clicking on a vehicle icon reveals the movement direction and maintenance activities of the respective vehicle. A route that has not been treated in the last six hours remains gray. Highways and first-class main roads are prioritized for treatment to address issues due to winter conditions, with the response time being a maximum of 30 minutes following detection.
