The Spanish state-run road network, dependent on the Ministry for Development, is 24,900 km long. Of this total, 1,960 km are toll motorways, 5,947toll-free motorways and expressways and the remainder correspond to conventional roads. For maintenance purposes, the Ministry for Development has divided this network into 175 sections involving average lengths of 70 km for expressway sections and 150 km for conventional road sections. A totalof 115 sections are affected each winter by snow and ice. Maintenance work on the sections is virtually all carried out by contracts outsourced to private firms, including all winter serviceability operations. For carrying out the work involved, these firms provide all the human and material resources regulated in the schedule of conditions forming the basis for assigning the contract, scaled according to the service level assigned to the roads making up the section. Management of the resources used for winter serviceability operations are defined in an operating plan covering the procedures for action and the work system for all tasks related to each section's winter serviceability. This is drawn up in line with the instructionsprovided in a Service Note issued by the Spanish Directorate General for Roads. These Operating Plans are passed by the management team running each contract and are revised annually and tailored to the new needs arising,ready for application in the following winter season. For the covering abstract see ITRD E143097.
Abstract