Page 4 - Econ Standard 89

Econ Scottish Bear Amey_Layout 1 20/01/2021 10:10 Page 1

‘know how’

New fleet of winter

maintenance vehicles a

necessity for BEAR Scotland

The awarding of an eight year, £720m contract to oversee 314 miles of trunk
roads has seen BEAR Scotland order a new fleet of winter maintenance vehicles
from Econ.

The contractor, which was formed in 2000, has been involved in five generations of Transport
Scotland Trunk Road Operating Company contracts covering various areas of Scotland.
It is presently responsible for just over 80 per cent of Scotland’s trunk road network, including
the North East, North West and, since August, South East Scottish Trunk Road Units.

Responsible for the inspection, management and maintenance of the trunk road assets to
ensure the safety of all road users and stakeholders, BEAR Scotland is also undertaking winter
service operations, hence its requirement for new gritters and snow ploughs.

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And for first time the order included a number of Econ twin chamber 7.5m Hotboxes
as well as Transport Scotland was also keen for the Econ-built vehicles to take into
account environmental considerations, and Econ satisfied this with the addition of dedicated
brine sprayers.
Alasdair Allen, BEAR Scotland’s Severe Weather Manager for the South East Unit, said: “BEAR
Scotland has a long-standing relationship with Econ and worked closely with them to ensure
that a first-class fleet was in place for the Transport Scotland Network Management Contract.”