Winter roads suck county salt supply
Juliana D'Amico
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News
In order to preserve the remaining salt supply, Richards said, the city is cutting back on salt and using substitutes when they can.
"By mixing 50-50 with sand, we're trying to stretch it as much as possible," Clingerman said.
Richards explained that sand is good for traction when it's too cold for salt to be effective. Calcium chloride, which is also used as substitute for salt, works better than salt at temperatures below 18 degrees.
"Once you get below negative 20 degrees nothing works [to melt the ice]," Richards said.
Hillsdale Department of Public Services has not just focused efforts on using alternative mixtures on the roads, but also on concentrating the salt where it will be most effective.
"[The City of Hillsdale] itself does a very good job of maintaining roads," Bernhardson said. "Hillsdale County is the issue."
Bernhardson explained that most of the accidents in Hillsdale are on the county's roads. He said that some days he has had three or four calls.
"I actually responded to a call last weekend where I put the ambulance in the ditch to avoid a car while approaching the scene of the accident," Bernhardson said.
Richards explained that it's a noticeable difference between the roads that belong to the city and those that belong to the county.
The efforts and overtime of Richards' crew have paid off, he said.
"We had one of the [police] officers come in and commend the public service department for our efforts the weekend of Feb. 8th, 9th, and 10th because there were zero accidents," Richards said.
"By mixing 50-50 with sand, we're trying to stretch it as much as possible," Clingerman said.
Richards explained that sand is good for traction when it's too cold for salt to be effective. Calcium chloride, which is also used as substitute for salt, works better than salt at temperatures below 18 degrees.
"Once you get below negative 20 degrees nothing works [to melt the ice]," Richards said.
Hillsdale Department of Public Services has not just focused efforts on using alternative mixtures on the roads, but also on concentrating the salt where it will be most effective.
"[The City of Hillsdale] itself does a very good job of maintaining roads," Bernhardson said. "Hillsdale County is the issue."
Bernhardson explained that most of the accidents in Hillsdale are on the county's roads. He said that some days he has had three or four calls.
"I actually responded to a call last weekend where I put the ambulance in the ditch to avoid a car while approaching the scene of the accident," Bernhardson said.
Richards explained that it's a noticeable difference between the roads that belong to the city and those that belong to the county.
The efforts and overtime of Richards' crew have paid off, he said.
"We had one of the [police] officers come in and commend the public service department for our efforts the weekend of Feb. 8th, 9th, and 10th because there were zero accidents," Richards said.
Be the first to comment on this story