Grit bins throughout the city provide salt and salt/sand mixtures for you to use in your local area.
Use our map to see where the grit bins are in your area.
Please be aware when we adopt roads in new housing developments, we do not adopt any grit box the builder may have left there. We do not fill grit bins that have been provided by others. If there is a grit box with ‘Aberdeen City Council’ written on it which is not on the below list or map, please contact us via social media to make us aware of the missing grit box.
Please be careful when using grit bins. Sometimes people use them to dispose of rubbish, such as glass, sharp metal and syringes, which could injure you if you accidentally touch it.
During prolonged periods of bad weather, all of the city’s grit bins may run empty at the same time and it will take time for us to refill them all. We will focus our resources on gritting main roads and priority areas during these periods.
You can report an empty or damaged grit bin online.
The public clearing snow and ice from pavements and roads
When there’s bad weather, we are continuously gritting primary and secondary roads and priority 1 and priority 2 pavements so it is very unlikely we will be able to grit other areas such as cul-de-sacs or residential streets. We provide one-tonne community salt bags, and 20 big community salt bins for residents to use along with grit bins around the city. Please only use the salt from these on public roads and pavements, not on your own path or driveway.
It is unlikely that you would be sued or held responsible if someone is injured on a path or pavement provided you have acted carefully and responsibly when treating the area. This would most probably only become an issue if your actions had made the situation worse and not better. For example, were you to use hot water to remove snow or ice, this could refreeze and create an ice hazard.
It is highly improbable that you would make any situation worse by using salt. If you are concerned about making a situation worse, please consider the following points:
- Have I created a new hazard – so long as your actions have not created a hazard that was not there prior, you should be OK
- Don’t use water – it might refreeze and turn to ice
- Use salt if possible – it will melt the ice and will reduce the risk of it refreezing overnight
- You can use ash and sand if you don’t have enough salt – it will provide grip underfoot
- Pay extra attention when clearing steps and steep pathways – using more salt may help
- When clearing snow, consider where you move it to – try to avoid creating potential trip hazards with cleared snow
- If by clearing snow you have exposed ice underneath, treat this with salt to melt it.
You can also apply for a free one-tonne community salt bag. The application process and salt bag deliveries are usually in October/November every year.