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Cyclists let down by crushed glass on icy roads
Mark Blunden16 Feb 2009
A council has been criticised for using crushed glass to treat roads during the snowy weather.
Greenwich received more than 20 complaints from cyclists with punctured tyres and residents who say the glass was carried into homes on shoes, damaging floors and furniture.
Resident Simon Gallie, 43, said: "Did no one think of people falling over and cutting themselves, or the damage it could cause? I found broken glass on my kitchen floor."
Cyclist Andrew Hardy, 23, said he had to repair both tyres of his bike after riding over the glass. "I was just pedalling along as normal when both tyres went flat," he said.
A spokeswoman for Greenwich said it spread a government-approved mixture of salt and glass "that had been crushed, graded and washed".
Reader views (12)
Bloody hell crushed glass on the roads that's insane. Well, I have to say Bristol & SGlos Councils kept it real and have done a grand job of our main roads.
- Ian Cowley, Bristol, 13/01/2010 11:16
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"A spokeswoman for Greenwich said it spread a government-approved mixture of salt and glass 'that had been crushed, graded and washed'."
That's a pathetic response. It shows a lack of regard for the consequences of spreading this dangerous rubbish on the streets, the views of clearly unhappy customers and commmon sense.
The culprits should be named - whether they are shamed depends on their intellect and sense of guilt (I doubt they have much of either).
- Austen, London, 13/01/2010 10:16
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Those tiny shards and slivers of sharp edged glass are the worst type of broken glass to remove from skin, cycle tyres and carpets, and clearly the salespeople for this additive have been very slick, at selling a substandard product.
Broken glass could be used in the mix of grit & salt, as it offers many benefits - as an inert and benign substancewhich introduces an impurity to the water and depresses the freezing point. Go to any beach in the UK and it will certainly have broken glass on it - if its sand it could substantially consist of broken glass (silica) in its natural form. However the broken glass you find on the beach has been rolled around with the shingle and the sharp edges ground off.
If the brtoken glass had been properly processed it would have been put through a large version of the gemstone worker's tumbler drum to grind off the sharp edges before it was spread on the street. I used to have seals and other moulded parst trated in a similar way to gently grind off the 'flash' left by the mould joints around the edge of a moulded part.
Broken glass and broken china are also good inert materials for building cheap paths for walking & cycling well rolled in to lock the pieces into a coherent surface. So nothing wrong with the basic material but somthing wrong in the original specification or quality control of the product.
- Dave Holladay, Glasgow, 13/01/2010 10:16
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Stuff damage to tyres, floors and property. What about damage to people? Tiny shards of glass embedded in skin or in eyes are very dangerous.
Does anyone know how they manage in the Netherlands?
- Margrit Grey, Belfast N. Ireland, 13/01/2010 10:16
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Came across this when meeting up with fellow cyclists in Greenwich Cutty Sark yesterday. Suddenly found ourselves cycling through crushed glass, even on a cycle path. Completly insane, idiotic idea.
- Inabloke, London, UK, 13/01/2010 10:16
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The thought of what this could do to a dog's paws is simply beyond the pale. It bad enough picking glass out of bicycle tyres, but try to imagine the suffering of someone's dog.
They should flog these idiots.
- George, London, 13/01/2010 10:16
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Joined up local government at its best
- John Bloomfield, Twickenham, 13/01/2010 10:16
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Crushed glass...???????
Who are these morons, who are obvioulsy bar of any sense at all????
And where are 'elf and safety????
Broken glass punctures tyres (not only those of cyclist, but any other motorist) and the skin of pedestrians should they be unfortunate enough to have a fall.
These idiots in Greenwich council, who are responsible to use broken glass as a "gritting material" should be sacked and sued for criminal damage.
You juct could not make it up!
- Weddigen, London SW, 13/01/2010 10:16
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Unfortunately, it is only my lengthy dealings with my own ridiculous and moronic local authority that allow me to believe this story. It seems to be a pre-requisite of local authorities that their staff are to be the most stupid, twisted, irresponsible, and thoughtless people.
What about cats, dogs, small animals, children or the elderly tripping and falling. And I assume this glass is now being washed into the local environments and the water table?
- Real, London, 13/01/2010 10:16
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I think that all the local authorities in this country have slight obsession with employing most stupid people they can find. I believe they call it Equal Opportunities. I suppose such people have to earn a living somewhere but it is annoying it is has to be at the expense (literally) of the rest of us.
- Margaret Salafrio, St John's Wood, 13/01/2010 10:16
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In virtually any other european country they wash and reuse bottles using a deposit scheme. Here, like nylon shirts, no deposit no return was seen as trendy. Nylon shirts went long ago and so should no deposit no return. They are even using crushed glass as a road making material, bonkers when you consider the energy costs of making glass.
- Jack Spratt, Richmond, England, 13/01/2010 10:16
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Thankfully I don't live anywhere near Greenwich but what strikes me is how councils make such an issue of what you mustn't put in your rubbish bin - broken glass, etc. - yet they can spread it all over the streets? That is not on. If my dog cut his paws on glass that had been put down at the request of some brainless council drone I would be trying to sue or have the individual sacked at the very least.
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx, 13/01/2010 10:16
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