Uncategorized

Final snowstorm of 2019 offers opportunity for city’s new road treatment

By PATRICK ADRIAN
[email protected]
CLAREMONT — Though the forecasted freezing rain did not come to fruition, Monday’s messy wintery mix provided a sufficient test for Claremont’s new road treatment strategy.

In a phone interview Monday afternoon, Department of Public Works Assistant Director Jeremy Clay said the city’s switch to a molasses and salt mixture appears to be working wonderfully.

“I’m very impressed,” Clay said. “I’m really amazed by how much [the pre-treated salt] did overnight.”

This year, the city department switched from using traditional, crystallized rock salt to a “pre-treated” salt brine. Pre-treated salt is a liquid sodium chloride, mixed with molasses. The molasses acts as a stabilizer that holds the mixture together.

While pre-treated salt costs more per ton than untreated salt – $92 per ton for pre-treated compared to $62 per ton for untreated – pre-treated salt claims to be more efficient and effective, as well as less corrosive to the undercarriage of vehicles, according to Clay. The pre-treated mixture remains effective in colder temperatures than untreated salt and begins to take effect immediately, whereas crystallized salt still must dissolve in water before it will melt ice.

Pre-treated salt also holds together when placed in the road, allowing road crews to place it evenly in the path where vehicle tires expect to travel, which helps spread the mixture in the road. Salt crystals scatter when dropped on the road and dissolve in places where they don’t benefit.

Clay said that using pre-treated salt on Sunday evening saved the city at least $750 in overtime alone from this storm, because the first round of road treatment was so effective that a second round this morning wasn’t necessary.

City crews put down pre-treated salt on 132 total miles of Claremont paved roads on Sunday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., according to Clay. When Clay drove into work this morning, he saw a remarkable difference in road conditions when crossing the compact line into Claremont on John Stark Highway.

“The state side of the highway was pretty awful, but when I crossed the compact line [near Home Depot on Washington Street], it was just slush,” Clay said. “I was worried about how much salt we had used. But [the crew person] told me that he hadn’t applied more salt since the first run [from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday].”

The city also caught a break when the freezing rain that forecasters predicted to occur this morning didn’t happen, according to Clay. Despite this, the city had trucks ready to put down chipstone, which Clay said was another change he made this year. In previous years, the city put down sand to provide traction to combat freezing rain, though his research of other towns found many use chipstone instead.

“We had left the roads intentionally slushy, which may look bad but actually provide some traction,” Clay said.

The department began plowing the slush and snow from the roads on Monday afternoon in preparation for the evening. Clay said that he wanted to remove the slush before the evening temperature drop could freeze it over. The department also conducted another round of pretreated salt on the roads Monday evening. The Claremont Police Department keep Public Works notified overnight whether the roads may need another treatment.

Clay also recently found that by using city equipment to mix the salt and molasses internally, rather than purchasing the brine pre-made, the department has reduced the cost of materials by $17 per ton – from $92 per ton to $75 per ton. The department is using a 15.5 gallon sledge mixer owned by the wastewater department to make the pre-treated brine.

“I still need to look at the actual numbers, but my gut instinct says that we’ve saved quite a bit from this switch, [from overtime costs to vehicle and equipment use],” Clay said.

Clay also plans to compare the budget at this date with previous years in terms of spending.

“We’ve been pretty lucky so far this winter, with a lot less overtime,” according to Clay.

The department hopes to schedule road treatment and cleanup to circumvent the need for road crews to accumulate hours on New Year’s Day.

Avatar photo

As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.