Better Roads

April 2014

Better Roads Digital Magazine

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10 April 2014 Better Roads Applications & Innovations By Tina Grady Barbaccia Through some trial and error in storage, different application equipment and roadway applications, one city's continued use of liquids has evolved into innovative treatment methods. Applications & Innovations Control Equipment and Techniques for Snowfi ghters Snow & Ice L ast month, Better Roads covered how professional- grade salt-brine making, blending and truck load- ing systems are being used as a mobile solution for municipalities and state agencies to help prevent crippling situations. These included severe weather hit Atlanta and Texas; how a group of stakeholders in Ohio created a set of salt-storage guidelines, "Recommendations for Salt Storage Guidance for Protecting Ohio's Water Resources;" and how the blended liquid deicers were used for anti-icing and pre- wetting, how multi-edge snowplows and highgate wheel loader plows hit the scene, and how an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system for snow and ice control management were implemented. In this issue, Better Roads shares more technologies and techniques as the highway and bridge building industry's snowfi ghters gear up for the American Public Works Associa- tion (APWA) Snow Show May 4-7 in Cincinnati, Ohio (For more information, go to apwa.net/snow). A small city big on liquids Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, with a population of a little more than 50,000 and almost 500 lane miles, has a long and strong history with the use of liquids in snow and ice con- trol. In 1966, the city drilled a well 2,700-feet deep into a salt vein for water softening purposes for the Water Treat- ment Plant. Fresh water was pumped into the salt vein, and the product that came back out of the ground was a rich concentration of natural salt brine. The city's Streets Depart- ment, spurred by this vast supply of natural brine, began us- ing it for snow and ice control by the mid-1970s. "Through some trial and error in storage, different ap- plication equipment and roadway applications, the city's continued use of this valuable money saving product has evolved into some very innovative treatment methods in its winter maintenance program," says Charles Novak with the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio's Street Department. "From an- ti-icing to deicing, the city has employed treatment methods proven to reduce salt consumption, achieve great results and save money both directly and indirectly." The city also tries to be on the forefront of innovation and technology and has a long history of the use of high- volume spreaders that not only pre-wet solids but apply

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