Better Roads Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/291564
Better Roads April 2014 11 liquids at greater rates achieving high levels of service with minimal resource requirements, Novak says. The city current- ly owns the largest municipal fl eet in the country of these high-volume liquid spreaders, and data shows they have paid themselves off within a few years through a dry-salt savings. Novak will be presenting at the APWA Show about the positive outcomes achieved through liquid application in snow and ice control and offers a methodology that can be applied across the country to others who want to incorporate such treatments in their winter maintenance strategies. "With literally decades of use of liquids in snow and ice control, Cuyahoga Falls' experience can provide a footprint to helping others understand and apply practical knowledge required to successfully incorporating liquids as a major treatment type," Novak says. It's no secret that winter maintenance has an impact on freshwater systems – i.e. salt and chemicals – getting into watersheds, but it's necessary. So understanding the best practices for moving ahead with snow and ice control is both effective and important. In Minnesota, there is a statewide training program that more than 5,000 maintenance professionals have attended and have become state certifi ed in the practices. Now, the pro- gram is working on its fi rst major impaired waters project for chlorides throughout a seven-county metro area, says Connie Fortin, founder and president of Hamel, Minnesota-based Fortin Consulting. "We are developing a computer-based winter maintenance assessment tool to help organizations assess at a very detailed level their maintenance activities and map changes to lower impact practices." Fortin says. "We are working on our fi rst major (seven-county metro) impaired waters project for chlo- rides. It's an interesting time in Minnesota with integrating water protection and winter maintenance." Fortin will present "Minnesota's Initiative for Reducing Road Salt in Winter Maintenance" and share the process and current status of collaboration between the Minnesota Winter Weather App for Operations Planning The Canadian not-for-profit agency, Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA), has created a tool that is designed to simplify the creation a Winter Operations Planning document. The tool makes it possible for municipalities to have their customized document ready within a fraction of the time as well as free to OGRA's municipal members. In conjunction with the release of Environment Canada's Code of Practice for the Environ- mental Road Salt Management group, OGRA developed a template for road salt manage- ment that has been used by municipalities across Ontario since 2004. In 2012, the 19 Source Water Protection Committees (SWPC) submitted policies to the Ministry of Environ- ment designed to protect source water from identified threats. Areas of coverage included the application, handling and storage of road salt and the storage of snow at disposal sites and a requirement for all municipalities to develop salt/ risk management plans. OGRA is now spearheading this new project to assist its members in creating their own, customized and comprehensive Winter Maintenance Operations Plan document. For the presentation, "Mobile and Web-based Application Services for the Public and Fleet Managers," at the APWA Snow Show, attend the session on May 4 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Junior Ballroom C at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati. Through trial and error in storage, different application equipment and roadway applications, the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, has developed some innovative treatment methods in its weather maintenance program.