Rijkswaterstaat deployed almost three times as much salt this winter compared to the previous season, using 174 million kilograms between 1 October 2025 and 1 May 2026. In the same period the agency applied 64 million kilograms last year. The operation involved 577 spreaders and 630 snowplows, which together cleared over 2.1 million kilometres. Regional differences were evident; for example, northern Netherlands saw more frequent spreading than Zeeland. Jan‑Rients Slippens, the national adviser on slip‑control, noted that intense snowfall and low temperatures—especially from 3 to 7 January—driven by eight nationwide code‑orange alerts and a code‑red alert on 4 February—prompted the high usage. Special machines, Lavastorm and Firestorm, were deployed 7 and 12 times, respectively. In preparation for the next season, the salt reserve will be topped up to 250 million kilograms by 1 October 2026.
Source: Rijkswaterstaat
Made by AI. If you spot anything of concern write us at contact@cybach.com. We’ll promptly correct irregularities.