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ROADS TO BE CLEARED BY MAGNET: Highways Agency News Item
 Nails and other metal objects will be swept off the hard shoulders of motorways and trunk roads by a new vehicle equipped with a giant magnet.
The mechanical road sweeper will be used on the strategic roads network in Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire, West Berkshire, Dorset and Wiltshire.
The 18 tonne VT800 Series Johnston road sweeper vehicle is equipped with a bar magnet that can pick up an assortment of nails and other metal objects, reducing the risk of tyre damage for drivers.
The vehicle is also equipped with a high-powered brush, high pressure washing system and nozzle and acts as a litter picker, road sweeper and gully cleaner.
It will be used on the hard shoulders of the Highways Agency's motorways and trunk roads, which include the M3, M4, M27, A3, A31, A303 and A34, and will benefit all motorists and the emergency services when they need to use the hard shoulder in an emergency.
Mechanical sweepers are already used to clear the hard shoulder but they sometimes have problems picking up nails or other small fragments of metal.
Clearing the hard shoulder reduces the risk of damage to tyres.
The vehicle has a large bar magnet added to the front of it. It completes four actions all in one visit, sweeping, litter picking, cleaning gullies and picking up metal objects.
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