Councils need to use cost-effective solutions as they gear up for the big freeze

EXPERTS are warning cash-strapped councils about the high cost of importing rock salt as the UK supplies run low.

As the nation finds itself in the middle of the first big freeze of the year local authorities are gearing up for the annual battle to keep public roads and walkways clear of ice and snow.

“Council budgets have never been squeezed so tightly”, said Peter Shone, managing director of construction and engineering services contractor JPCS: “not only do councils need to make sure  footpaths, cycle areas, car parks and roads are free of ice, they need to keep maintenance costs low whilst ensuring de-icing products are spread as efficiently as possible.”

For a third winter in a row Britain is experiencing plunging sub-zero temperatures as low as -11ºC (12ºF) resulting in depleted rock salt stocks and soaring prices.

JPCS helps to maintain the highways and byways of Great Britain and has developed a powerful natural liquid anti-icer and de-icer to provide a solution for low and corrosive salt rock levels.

Safethaw™ is a liquid anti-icing and de-icing product for footways and pedestrian areas, preventing the formation of ice and providing instant de-icing down to -14C.

Peter continued: “We developed Safethaw™ as a natural but more effective alternative to rock salt as it’s 60 per cent less corrosive than salt. It’s also in liquid form making application and storage much easier.

For more information Contact JPCS on: 01948 820 716 or log onto: www.jpcs.co.uk

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For further details, or to arrange interviews or photography, please contact Lucy Oates at RMS.

Telephone: 0161 927 3131

Email: lucy@rmspr.co.uk

Notes to editors JPCS has been creating sustainable energy and infrastructure in the UK for almost 20 years.

JPCS maintains the highways and byways of Great Britain and offers the UK’s most innovative installation solution for ground mounted solar panels.

The nationwide construction and engineering services contractor was established in 1993 by managing director, Peter Shone, and has grown into a £10 million turnover business, working with clients such as Balfour Beatty, the Highways Agency, British Gas, Carillion, Eurovia and local authorities. 

JPCS has two core divisions:

• Infrastructure: highways maintenance and railway property maintenance

• Energy: Renewable energy services, including the installation and maintenance of solar photovoltaic systems

The business offers a number of innovative products including;

• Rejuvopatch – a unique, cost effective and sustainable method of carrying out a wide range of road repairs

• Safethaw – a powerful natural liquid anti-icer and de-icer

• Groundscrew® - a pioneering alternative to traditional concrete foundations for a number of applications, such as signs, street furniture, marker posts and ground mounted solar panels.

Website: www.jpcs.co.uk

Twitter: @jpcs_limited