Winter is fast approaching the northern hemisphere and at the time of this writing there is freezing precipitation in the Dakotas. It’s simply that time of the year.
During a recent conversation with a meteorologist from the National Weather Service, I inquired about the long range forecast for the Midwestern United States this coming winter. He said their most reliable forecast is calling for a mild El Niño cycle with warmer temperatures and more precipitation than last winter.
Since my initial interpretation of this forecast is for distinct snow events and ice potential, let’s talk about how such events are treated by those who are in that business.
For a while I’ve been toying with the idea of diving into specifics about the science of snow removal – and it is indeed a science. Yes, I do deal with such things at work although on the managerial end of things.
Snow removal is more than just driving around and slinging material so let’s sort through this process one item at a time.
Salt
“Salt” is as generic as the word “car”. The salts used are generally magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, and sodium chloride. The choice on which to use is that of each individual entity maintaining the roadway, but as a rule of thumb magnesium chloride is more corrosive than calcium chloride which is more corrosive than sodium chloride. For those who have forgotten their chemistry, sodium chloride is table salt.
Calcium chloride can be obtained as a flake, pellet, or in liquid form. Sodium chloride is generally obtained in its raw, granular form. The color of sodium chloride will vary greatly by source location.
Personally I’m not a fan of either magnesium chloride nor calcium chloride, but that is just my opinion. In addition to eating motorists cars and snow equipment, the runoff tends to do nasty things to pavements and bridge structures. Calcium chloride, being hydroscopic, will absorb moisture, allowing residual material on pavements to sweat which can lead to refreeze.
It is also not uncommon to mix a little calcium chloride with sodium chloride. It will create what is sometimes called a “hot load”.
Sodium chloride used to be cheap but that is no longer the case. One can figure a ton of sodium chloride will cost as much, but often more, than a ton of hot asphalt. One gives two years of use, the other maybe about two hours.
It is also my understanding salt producers mine only so many tons per year for highway use. This means agencies ought be judicious in using it as replenishment during the winter can sometimes be a challenge, particularly when there will be competition for it.
Throughout the rest of this piece, if you see the word “salt” I am referring to sodium chloride.
The owner/maintainer
Methods used in snow removal will vary considerably depending upon who maintains the road. Is the owner/maintainer the state, the city, the county, a township, or a road district? Don’t expect each to exercise the exact same methodology; while snow removal is a science there are those, just like with anything, who have found something that works and are reluctant to deviate even if an improvement can be made.
Think of this as the difference between fuel injection and carburetors; both work, but one is more precise.
In general one can expect larger entities to demonstrate a higher degree of finesse in snow removal. But again that is a generalized statement as boiling down the practices of many states, counties, and cities into something digestible isn’t an easy feat.
So when you are driving around in the winter and see some profound differences in how various roads have been treated, it isn’t necessarily due to “those lazy bums” at the highway department; the roads you use could be maintained by two entirely different entities with completely different methodologies. It might also be prioritization by the same owner, but we’ll talk more on that later.
As a rule of thumb, one can figure if the road has a number (I-44, US 60, Route 29) it’s owned/maintained by the state. Roads having names (Broadway, Metcalf Avenue, etc.) are not. Keep in mind some cities do name stretches of highway with a local name, such as US 61 through my old home of Hannibal being dubbed “McMasters Boulevard”; the roadsigns saying US 61 are a dead giveaway for what it really is and that locally given name is not recognized by the owner/maintainer.
Storms
Last winter I told a television reporter that winter storms are like people – there are similarities, but no two are alike. Think about all the variables: which direction is it coming from, is it building or dwindling, what time of day is it, what is the ambient temperature, is the temperature falling/rising, what is the ground temperature, what is the wind doing, what is the humidity, is it going to be preceded by rain, and what is the storm’s history? These are all important pieces of the puzzle.
Predicting what the storm is actually going to do is simply an educated guess. Like meeting a person, you don’t fully know its personality until you meet it – and it often takes some time to figure it out, just like with a new acquaintance.
If it’s snowing the roads are going to be slick; the people in the snow plows are working diligently to minimize the amount of time it’s slick and they cannot be everywhere at once. There is no winning against Mother Nature if she feels the need to be contrary.
Abrasives
These are often used to provide traction on some roads. Mixed with salt at various rates (anticipate x loader buckets of one with y loader buckets of another, with the salt ending up at around 20% to 30%) these abrasives are often sand, cinders, small aggregate, or manufactured sand. These materials will often depend upon local availability and could easily be something not listed here.
Cinders are useful as their black color works wonders in melting snow since any amount of daylight will warm them considerably and prompt a lot of melting. In my area cinders are the remains of burned coal, typically from electric power plants. These cinders, like most, are full of fun things like cadmium, arsenic, and chromium; despite testing showing these heavy metals aren’t leaching into water, I still don’t like cinders. Too much burning caused them to become powdery and this can present air pollution concerns when stockpiled. Cinders have a nifty habit of clogging storm sewers.
Coal fired power plants are a political hot button in the US these days so all I will say is the lack of cinder availability has provided opportunities to use other materials.
The other abrasives mentioned provide excellent traction, particularly manufactured sand due to its angularity. A lot of this material is also delightfully cheap.
Other Chemicals
There is an entire industry dedicated to snow removal. In addition to spreaders and plows for trucks made by companies such as Henderson, Viking, and Swenson, there are a number of other chemicals that can be used to amplify and/or treat sodium chloride.
One common chemical is beet juice. This is the waste product from processing sugar beets, which is one of the two prime sources of sugar in the world. Smelling like dirty feet, beet juice is a terrific substitute for calcium chloride as it is comparable in ice melting ability without being corrosive. It may give equipment and vehicles a mild brownish tinge but it washes right off with soap and water.
Beet juice can also help minimize clumping of salt. Treating a stockpile, or even a truckload, of salt with beet juice will keep it flowing. Much like the salt in a water softener can bridge and leave a void beneath the surface, similar can happen in truck-mounted spreaders. A shot of beet juice will help reduce bridging, particularly if the salt is not of a uniform gradation.
Many agencies use a combination of salt brine and beet juice. It works great in treating bridge decks to prevent icing as well as in treating roads ahead of a storm. The sugar content is enough that it will stick to the pavement so treatment of a bridge deck on, say, Thursday, will still hold frost at bay on Monday providing there has been no rain.
Just don’t dope your beet juice and salt brine cocktail with calcium chloride – if done incorrectly it can turn into a sticky, snotty mess.
Application Rates
One common source of angst with motorists is when they follow a spreader truck and are convinced the truck is not spreading material.
A lot of this is timing and this driver is often witnessing only a snapshot in time. In some jurisdictions hills and curves are treated first and that could be what the motorist witnessed. However, it could also be the application rate of the material.
The spreaders on many trucks are calibrated and are often tied into the hydraulic system of the truck. If an operator puts down straight salt at a rate of 200 pounds per lane mile (one lane of road one mile long is one lane mile; a two lane road one mile long will be one centerline mile and two lane miles) the application rate is quite sufficient for melting frozen precipitation but the fan of material is not readily perceptible to the human eye. It isn’t until straight salt is spread at a rate of about 800 pounds per lane mile does it become visible. At that point one is wasting material.
Another consideration is one of multiple trips. If one sees a truck and the plow is not down and no material is being spread, despite there being a skiff of snow on the road, there is the possibility of the road having been treated but the chemical not having yet done its work – or that truck is heading back to its home base for more material. Sometimes seeing a plow truck with the plow in the air makes sense as no operator wants to plow precious salt into the ditch when it’s needed on the road surface.
Priorities
Like most things in life, priorities need to be identified. If a person is responsible for roads ranging from interstate highways to low volume routes, where do you start? Odds are there are more motorists on the interstate and that is where the priority should be. Lower volume roads are not unimportant but to do the most good for the greatest number of people in the shortest time possible, they should be treated secondarily.
An employee once belligerently asked why interstates are treated first, as he thought the minor roads should be the priority so people could get to work and the grocery store. My response was elaboration upon how it makes no sense to give low volume routes priority as trucks making deliveries to the grocery stores will be stuck in a parking lot otherwise known as an interstate and nobody cares to visit a grocery store with empty shelves.
It’s understandable the most important road to anyone is the one in front of their house. In an ideal world all roads would be treated equally, but the world is not a perfect place. The prioritization is also a matter of…
Trucks and Equipment
Nothing about snow equipment is cheap. One can figure a 350 horsepower tandem-axle dump truck to cost around $150,000; bump up the power and the price goes up accordingly. That’s just for the truck; a new spreader and plow can add another $40,000 or so to this.
For a historical perspective, I’ve seen purchase orders from 1999 that show comparable dump trucks for $50,000. Emission controls have been a huge driver in the cost increases of trucks over the last decade.
One piece of equipment that is seeing more use throughout the country is the Tow-Plow. Here’s a video of it in action. Trucks pulling a tow-plow generally operate best if equipped with engines in the 425 horsepower range. The tow-plow is a Missouri invention.
The tow-plow is a good aid in gang-plowing (seen in the lead picture). On multi-lane facilities it is best to plow and treat all lanes as simultaneously as possible. Otherwise, traffic will throw slush back and forth between lanes, making cleanup that much more difficult.
It also works well in keeping shoulders pushed back as with deeper snows it is easily possible to create a shelf of snow from the shoulder not being addressed as frequently as the mainline.
This video shows how to operate a Tow-Plow along with the complexity of controls inside a New York state plow truck; the truck isn’t overly unique in how it’s been equipped and how controls are arranged. It’s a very good video.
Other not uncommon equipment for plow trucks are belly plows. These work great, particularly with icepack, but the down pressure can also wreak havoc on weaker pavements.
Also used are wing plows. Wing plows are excellent for clearing snow on the shoulder of the highway.
However, the King Kong of snow removal apparatus could arguably be the snow blower. Able to blast copious amounts of snow well out of the way, these are used in various locales. The only downside is they require a certain amount of snow to function so normal fluctuations in the winter weather cycle lead to inconsistent use. And they aren’t inexpensive.
Pre-Treatment
Putting a drizzle of salt brine and/or beet juice on the roadway isn’t the magic bullet; rather, it’s an optimistic endeavor that might reap benefits later on. Like some medical conditions in which the suspect organ has to be removed for diagnosis, nobody knows if treating ahead of time is successful until the storm is underway.
If all goes as planned, this treatment will slow the bonding of snow and ice to the roadway. But, as mentioned earlier, the world is not a perfect place as rain or conditions causing initial melting to refreeze will negate any positives of pretreating. There is a sentiment that treating ahead of a storm is a magic elixir; it’s not and blindly treating ahead of time can also be highly counterproductive.
If rain is in the forecast, don’t even think about treating ahead of time unless there is a forecasted window between the rain and freezing precipitation. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time and material.
Snow versus Ice
Oddly, heavy snows are, to a certain point, the least challenging as it’s a matter of let it fall, push it off. It’s entirely possible to use next to no salt in heavier events as removal will consist primarily of pushing snow.
Lighter snows, ironically, are much tougher. First, drivers seem to think a small snow shouldn’t be any big deal, which couldn’t be further from actuality. Second, the likelihood of freezing always tends to be higher as the heavier snows work as insulation.
Ice is insidious. Using copious amounts of salt, staying ahead of ice is a true challenge and this is where ground temperature can make or break a person. Sure the air temperature can be just above freezing but if the ground is frozen and it’s raining, guess what results? It’s not unusual to melt ice only to have everything refreeze in minutes. Cycle times often cannot be short enough.
Let’s just say none of it is fun, but there is an inverse relationship between precipitation depth and level of challenge – to a point. After a certain depth of snow, it gets to be a real bear as there is so much weight your equipment may not be able to push it.
Comparison of States
While storms are like people with no two being alike, similar can be said about each of the states in the US. The same no doubt holds true for each country in comparison to the others on its continent. So let’s get a feel for several states inhabited by CC’ers. This information was gleaned from winter maintenance data provided by state departments of transportation to Clear Roads for the winter of 2016-2017.
So let’s break this down by state. Keep in mind some things, primarily material usage and cost, will change from winter to winter.
Oregon: Located in the scenic Pacific Northwest, the State of Oregon maintains 19,090 lane miles of highway. The winter of ’16-’17 saw salt prices averaging $80 per ton with a total usage of 1,218 tons. The Oregon DOT has 519 plow trucks and 29 snow blowers.
On this map Oregon has been given a yellow color.
Indiana: Maintaining 26,507 lane miles of roads, the Indiana DOT (purple as seen here) has over twice as many trucks as Oregon with 1,080. Salt was noticeably cheaper in Indiana than in Oregon, averaging $71 per ton and the Indiana DOT used 185,754 tons in that winter. They have no snow blowers.
For figuring work load, Indiana has 24.5 lane miles per truck, the lowest of the outlined states.
Massachusetts: One of the geographically small states in the Northeast, Massachusetts loves its salt using 515,624 tons of salt at an average cost of $70 per ton. The Massachusetts DOT reported having 16,000 lane miles but also having the same number of centerline miles; one of these numbers is obviously wrong.
The Massachusetts DOT has 400 plow trucks and six snow blowers.
Colorado: The state of Colorado, a green and square state as seen in this map, maintains 23,000 lane miles and 892 plow trucks. With salt averaging $69 per ton, Colorado was much more judicious than Massachusetts, using 200,047 tons of salt. They have 42 snow blowers to complement their snow fleet.
Illinois: Coming in second place for most material used is Illinois with 304,500 tons used in ’16-’17. The average cost for salt was the cheapest examined at $65 per ton. With 43,186 lane miles and 1,747 trucks, the Illinois DOT has the second lowest ratio of miles per truck of any state seen here.
Illinois is seen here in yellow.
Missouri: Being a light blue and located right in the middle of the country, it’s easy to forget Missouri has the sixth largest highway system in the United States with 77,000 lane miles. That many miles will necessitate more trucks with the Missouri DOT having 1,538 trucks – roughly the number of Oregon and Indiana combined – but only two snow blowers.
With salt prices the same as in Colorado at $69 per ton, Missouri used only 70,000 tons during the winter of ’16’-17. If looking at work load a second time, Missouri has 50.0 miles per truck, over twice that of Illinois and Indiana. Oregon is the next closest at 36.8 miles per truck.
Conclusion:
Perhaps there aren’t any, but I wanted to present this to give everyone some insight into the challenges, costs, and methodology of snow removal. As with a number of other things in life, it is much more complex than what meets the eye.
So for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, let’s hope for a very light winter.
Pictures obtained from various sources.
One of the most fascinating and illuminating articles ever! I learnt a great deal about snow removal, namely the stuff distributed onto the roads. I recalled the time when Colorado experimented with beet juice concoction in the late 1990s. Boy, they stink but are very effective as I discovered when living in Colorado.
About the interstate highways having the highest priorities, a couple of ancetotes stuck to my mind…
When Denver International Airport was built, it was considered a true all-weather airport regardless of weather condition. After the epic blizzard hit the airport in 2003, a severe flaw in its ‘perfect’ master plan was discovered and never anticipated. Peña Highway, only highway serving DIA, and several major highways in Denver area were shut down for a few days while snow removal was severely backlogged. FAA has strict regulations on how long the pilots and flight crews could work in one segment. Many of replacement pilots and flight crews as well as airport employees couldn’t reach the airport, shutting down the airport for a few days and stranding many passengers and employees.
Another thing was Canadian reality television serial, Highway Thru Hell. This serial was eye-opening for me, causing me to have a deep respect for snow removal crews, police officers, rescue workers, and wreck towing crews who work in impossible and time-constraining condition. The owner of Heavy Rescue towing company explained that impact on Canadian economy is enormous in billions of dollars every time the highway is shut down due to collisions or difficulties in negotiating snowy and icy road condition.
Thus, the interstate highways or major arterial highways have higher priorities than residential streets…
Here in Queensland, Australia, snow is virtually unknown to us. I too am a fan of Highway thru Hell, and seeing the day to day challenges and dangers they face is truly eye opening as you say. I hate the cold. I would not last ten minutes in the conditions those people are working under. Springtime here in Hervey Bay. Beautiful!
There was a similar reality show that was not shot in Canada, but on I-80, Donner Pass in California. Yes the same place the Donner expedition met it’s fate. That area gets the most depth of average snowfall in the US.
Snow removal on the railroad tracks paralleling I-80 is another fascinating topic.
During a flight delay out on the tarmac at O’Hare, the pilot treated us to an explanation of runway snow removal. To minimize runway closures, they run a gang of plows up the full width of the runway all at once. The requires maintaining a fixed speed an interval between successive trucks. The precise timing and movement down the runway is best described as a “guy’s ballet”.
Over in the gate area, there is no place for a plow to throw the snow and hauling it out takes too long. The solution? A big dumpster connected to a jet engine. Loaders scoop snow at the gates into the dumpster. The jet engine is fired up and melts the snow letting water runoff into the drains.
In Wisconsin, I used to plow snow. Even in the 70’s it was an impressive deployment of men and equipment. Living in the south, convinced me some states see a Tonka truck and toy shovel as adequate investment in snow removal equipment.
Even so, I prefer to live where snow removal means waiting for warmer weather to melt the stuff. In a vain effort to tie this all to AMC week, I will now relate that I once saw a Rambler balanced on top of a fresh plowed snowbank. Film at 11.
Fascinating stuff.
As one who has respect for the guys doing this job and has been caught out when it didn’t work out, and the back office behind it, it’s good to know that you’re looking at the options and the equipment,and not just doing the same thing each time. However, as you acknowledge, you’ll never it right for everyone. And I thought salt was salt…..
And please send a tow plow (may be a right hand drive tow plough?) – no need to wait for winter!
A very thorough and interesting article, thanks Jason.
I was feeling a bit anxious about having a bad winter, but I see that none of those pesky Winter Warnings are being allowed over the border, so it’ll all be good, right? 🙂
I’ve seen a few tow plows around here, is the tank just for traction or does it also dispense brine?
The tank dispenses brine. There is an option I’ve seen where a spreader can be mounted and multiple lanes can have sodium chloride applied at once.
And everything breaks . . . equipment, building systems, communication systems, contracts with private vendors who basically say pound sand – sue us, we’re staying home. . . Good times🙂
You got that right…along with cold weather gelling diesel fuel in bulk tanks. And long hours creating non-harmonious relations among employees. And parts vendors for broken dump trucks not wanting to open. And the mechanics who work entirely too many hours at a stretch. The list can be long!
As my brother in law the farmer has noted, planting equipment never breaks in the fall and harvest equipment never breaks in the spring. The stuff only breaks when you are using it, and when you are using it is the only time you really need it.
I wish I’d had this guide to snow removal 20 years ago, when I moved from a place that received a light dusting of snow about every 10 years, to a place where snowy winter days are not uncommon. It would’ve helped me better understand the method behind the state DOT’s madness; for example, the first time I heard of beet juice, I thought it a joke.
The differences in the states’ abilities to manage and remove snowfall on the roads is often very noticeable, particularly in a few states that straddle an imaginary climactic line between “rare snowstorms” and “almost in the snowbelt.” It is sometimes amusing to drive US71/I-49 through the Ozarks after a snowstorm, because the “Welcome to Missouri” sign is unnecessary; the line marking the absence of ice and snow on the pavement is the state line. I suppose it’s simply a combination of resources and priorities; while in neighboring states, ARDOT deals with much fewer miles of roadway, and probably only 25% to 30% of them consistently receive heavy winter snow, while MODOT is equipped for a climate where 100% of the roadways are likely to be snow-covered in any given winter.
Very informative — and timely too, since here in Virginia we just had our first frosty morning.
I’ve noticed that around here, the State and Cities have become addicted to salt brine pre-treatment in recent years. Last year, when there was merely a mention of flurries in the forecast, the pre-treatment trucks came out in force. But more often than not, it didn’t snow, rendering all that work (and resources) wasted.
However, what I really wonder about is when the roads are pre-treated and then we get no precipitation at all. In that case, the brine just sits on the road until the next precipitation event, which can’t possibly be good for the road surface. I’m sure that pre-treatment has its benefits, but around here it seems that VDOT goes a little nuts with the stuff.
And here’s a fun fact about Virginia — VDOT maintains a whopping 127,000 lane-miles of roads. I believe that’s more than any state besides Texas. The reason for this is that the State took control of virtually all roads in 1932… it was basically a depression-era power grab, and since it relieved Counties of road-maintenance costs, most were willing to go along with it. So currently, most roads in the state (from Interstates down to tiny cul-de-sacs) are VDOT roads, with the exception of roads in Cities (the State never took over City roads) and in two Counties that opted out of the original takeover.
Oh, so that’s why I’ve seen so many VA state highway signs, for even short streets.
When I was stationed in Iceland the air base was situated at the International Airport for Reykjavik (?). Anyway, we were told that for ice removal on the runways they used cows urine. I don’t remember what they used on the streets and roads, it must have been something else.
Since it smelled of drying fish most of the time, using urine of any type on ice was no big deal, smellwise.
My town in MA loves it’s salt and prides itself on having bare roadways right after a storm. They also will drag out a Sicard snow blower if needed. It’s detroit diesel powered so plenty of warning when it’s coming. Then there are the bombardier sidewalk plows – they look like they could be a fun toy.
Outstanding article Jason, thank you.
The ongoing need to find an effective, safe, and affordable alternative to ‘salt’ is paramount. Not only does it destroy cars and structures, but it’s damaging to the environment.
Winter also brings an additional great expense to local and state/provincial budgets in road repair. The constant freeze and thaw cycles causes roads to break, and cracks and potholes to form. Thankfully, governments appear much more vigilant now as they see the benefits of more prompt and better maintenance to ensure longer road surface life.
Thank you, Jason. This was a fascinating read. I’m still on the fence about whether I enjoyed it more because I’m facing another Florida Winter, or if I’m feeling melancholy for not gearing up for another Northeastern one. Either way I found it very interesting.
Growing up and working in the NY/NJ/PA tri-state area, I was specifically interested in your explanations of the differing opinions, even among the professionals, of proper treatment. For much of my adult life I lived and worked in a mountainous area with widely varied road surfaces and terrain. The range of my travel for business and life maintenance in general took me into at least 2 of the 3 states on a daily basis and quite often could involve travel into or through areas maintained by 3 different states, up to 4 different counties, and who knows how many municipalities. This of course resulted in endless water cooler, coffee urn and bar room blathering over who does what best, which state/county/township/city was the worst, etc, etc, etc.
To compound my own frustration over this endless (and pointless) barrage of armchair quarterbacking, my own family’s business had many of the local municipalities as clients. This meant that sometimes the discussions of who did right and who screwed up took place with the players themselves, in which case a high level of diplomacy had tact had to be employed. To this day I love a good Nor’easter, but after 30 years of driving through them….and then having to hear 30 tales of everyone else’s drive through them, I’m ok with watching the news footage. But I sure wish I’d been privy to some of the info in this piece back when it seemed like every conversation from November until April was about road conditions and the friggin’ weather.
An excellent and informative article. Thanks for taking us behind the scenes.
I think geography is everything. My own state (Indiana) has a very large north-sough spread (and is fairly narrow from east-west). That 150 miles from centrally located Indianapolis to South Bend (up near the Michigan border) is like two different worlds in snow removal. South Bend is 5-7 degrees colder on average and is the preferred dumping spot for “lake effect” snow from Lake Michigan. On a municipal level South Bend invests in snow removal and does it exceptionally well.
Indianapolis, on the other hand, is far enough south that we get much less snow. During really heavy snowfalls the city puts plows on some garbage trucks to temporarily increase the size of the plow fleet. As you get down closer to the Kentucky border ice is more of a problem than snow.
Mr. Cavanaugh is correct about ice being the major problem in southern Indiana. I live in Evansville, IN, which is located in the extreme southwest corner of the state. During a normal winter (whatever that might be) we might get one really major snowstorm, or we may only have a couple of light dustings of snow. On the other hand ice storms are fairly frequent in the winter and they tend to paralyze the entire area. These ice storms not only affect traffic they also have a huge impact on the infrastructure as they result in downed power lines, which can take days to replace.
The various levels of government here do a better job with snow removal than they did 40 or 50 years ago but it is still a major challenge to try and plow all of the roads. In the 18+ years I’ve lived in my current house I can count on the thumbs of both feet the times I’ve seen a plow on my street. I understand why that is but it is still annoying having to wait for the sun to come out and the temperature to rise in order to see pavement again. At least now I’m retired and don’t have to get out if I don’t want to; I make sure to keep enough supplies on hand to last for at least a week in case of snowmageddon.
Here’s a cool video that explains snow removal in Montreal. I saw it in person once, and it’s impressive:
1. plow the snow into a single snowbank on the street.
2. Use a paired snowblower / tractor trailer to collect the snow
3. When full, the tractor trailer drives off to dispose its load and a new empty one slides right in to take its place.
And places like Montreal and Ottawa have enormous snow dump sites that last well into summer
Doug is right. I can remember seeing the Bayview Snow Dump in Ottawa lasting well into June.
I saw a patch of snow near Mount Kosciuszko (highest mountain in Australia at about 5000′) at Easter – so it had lasted all summer.
I’m not sure what there is for snow removal in Victoria exactly, I’d guess that they look after a couple of hundred miles of roads. There are some minor roads that are just closed for the winter.
Very good and explained a lot of things I was curious about. Even more informative than that talk my Dad had with me at around age twelve, but I digress…
I’ve gone from one that was sort of excited about driving around in the snow to one that will do it, but isn’t all that excited about it anymore, at least in the uncontroled environment known as the public roads. I have discovered though that the surest way to magically change a horrendous weather forecast to another month of pure sun and higher temps is to spend an afternoon and put the snow tires on all the cars. The reverse holds true in the spring.
Our city does the pre-treatment thing which seems to work well as generally it’s cold enough for any precipitation to just be snow. It’s interesting to watch how the fluid gets tracked across the roads by the cars following and spreading it around with their own tires.
Overall the worst part of the winter is those that aren’t prepared or refuse to prepare. I can sympathize with those that can’t afford a good set of tires and have to get somewhere anyway, but not with those that clearly can afford the bling but think their 20″ summer tread will get them anywhere safely. It’s not like we are in Georgia with the odd freak storm every few years. At least the state takes it fairly seriously up in the mountains (I-70) and starts running reminder notices by early fall about truckers needing chains and motorists being prepared.
“You see, Son, when a truck and a plow love each other very much, they get together and begin clearing major roadways to ensure safe travel….”
Jason, this was a fascinating article. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!
Informative and fascinating. Thanks Jason! In my part of California we only get a light dusting of snow a few times a year, and only above 1500′ (500 m) or so a few miles inland. I don’t think CalTrans has any dedicated equipment in our District … a blade on a dump truck or even a pickup seems to work OK. But in the high Sierra, where we can get steady snowfalls of 3′ (one meter) per hour, snow removal is a pretty big deal. So I checked the Clear Roads site you linked and found that we have more blowers than any other state except Alaska. We also use road graders a lot. In my experience the road graders follow the plows or blowers to clean up the edges.
On many state highways in more rural parts of California, signs warn that there is no snow removal at night. And on the high elevation two lane state highways that cross the Sierras (State Routes 89, 4, 108, and 120) the roads aren’t cleared after the first big storms, until springtime; I believe the record for late opening of Hwy 120 is early July. Clearing it is a major task.
This is 120 in April 2017 https://youtu.be/crECtMJQ3OA
And here, still in process in June https://youtu.be/Kl0o-gTd7Bg
Splendid work! Very interesting information.
The tow-plow is rather spectacular. At first I didn’t know what to make of the first picture…
I receive some snow removal trade journals as supplements to my landscape contractor journals; I’m no longer in that business, but I like to keep up.
The journals I read are aimed primarily at snow removal contractors serving primarily commercial private property owners. It’s amazing and scary the amount of liability assumed by snow removal contractors, both to damage to client’s property and personal injury resulting from non/mal/infeasance of duties.
That said, your article was incredibly fascinating and informative beyond what I’ve read before.
Everybody thinks everything that looks simple enough is simple. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Thanks for the lesson.
P.S. – This article should be reproduced and made available to every household in snow states.
A great read!!. Having worked for a private snow removal company I can tell you the days before a storm are a mad house. Anything with 4 wheel drive gets it’s plow mounted, repairs are cobbled together and equipment staged. The contracts are tightly written but boy did they make big money and push people/equipment to the edge. Slip and fall claims were always an issue as property residents did their best to claim over mountains of snow and walk slippery but salted sidewalks. Geez, if you’re not essential personal, please stay in and off the roads
Carrying on the CC tradition of making anything even remotely automotive into a fascinating read. But you sure made me thankful I live in a largely snow-free country!
Very insightful and informative.
I am sorry for those in areas where winter conditions come only infrequently. The people there never get to learn “how to do it” vis a vis winter driving, and very often they suffer greatly as a result. Recall the snow and ice visited upon Atlanta a few years ago. People had to strand their cars on the highways and trudge home sometimes 10-20 miles, wearing only spring like clothes, when roads became impassable. I don’t want to say we are lucky in the Great White North for getting wintry conditions, but we sure become well practiced at it!
Thanks Jason.
Very much in agreement with you, Moparlee. I was in Dallas in the early 1980s one year they got some snow. Many businesses didn’t open, or didn’t expect employees to make it in to work. Wasn’t much snow for me, and I got around just fine. There were so few cars on the road that I was concerned that I might get stopped for driving in “unsafe conditions.” It might seem shocking to say that after living most of my life in a Northern state, have never once put snow tires on my car. But I know how to drive in snowy conditions, and sometimes carry a shovel with me. I do remember as a kid, that in my youth, many or perhaps most years my dad did put snow tires on his car. But, his job often had him traveling out of town, and some counties aren’t as quick to clear their roads as others.
I’m originally from the Northeast, but moved to central Texas (Austin) in the early 80’s…I brought my car with me, along with a set of mounted snow tires when I moved here. Just to use them up, I would put them on the car in the fall much like I had been doing in the Northeast, and removed them in the spring (or before, since winters down here are short)….for the first few years I lived here.
I told one guy at work about it, and he teased me about it, saying “why would you do that?” until the winter of ’84/’85 when he was travelling down to San Antonio (~90 miles) and they got 10 inches of snow, he got stranded there a few days till the roads cleared (the snow buckled the roofs of some flat roofed carports in the city). When he got back to Austin he asked if he might buy the tires from me (not knowing whether they’d even fit his rims or not).
It’s even worse now, with the many flyovers built on new roads and lots more people, such that most people try to stay home if we get winter conditions (which doesn’t happen often, but usually we get at least one episode each winter).
I used to have the snow removal duties while I was going to school in Vermont (lived at home) and the part I dreaded most was the cleanup…the snow would get into the 2nd impeller of the blower and refreeze, such that we were always breaking the drive belt…more than once had to walk the mile each way to the True Value hardware store and get a replacement (we learned to keep several on hand)…if I didn’t keep it completely cleaned out. Don’t miss that part
Spring here now theoretically warm weather however on my daily run the temp readout shows 0 and -2 fairly often this is at around 5-5 am last week the snow people were out with power broom and grit/plough trucks I wheelspun up a couple of hills and slid down jake locking despite having the power divider engaged the trailer brake keeps me pointed in the right direction and the whole show under control though, shouldnt get any more of that this year, they do use chemicals in the south island where snow and ice is more prevalent it turns your car black whatever it is, corrosive? dont know my car is fully galvanised so it wont be a problem, fortunately we dont get the kind of snowfall usually you get in the US.
What an excellent read Jason! Interesting to see how things are done south of the border. Up here in the Great White North in the province of Ontario, all of our snow plowing has been contracted out for nearly 20 years now. Is it typical that the State’s DOT’s own the equipment and perform the plowing themselves in the US? The Ministry of Transpiration Ontario (MTO) sets the standards and issues the contracts for the various regions across the province. I believe there are 21 contactors that cover the province. Some contractors cover more than one area. There are fines issued if the contractor doesn’t meet the standards.
The methods you mentioned are pretty much the same used up here. I couldn’t find the numbers on how much salt the province uses, but rest assure we use a lot. Unfortunately it has a major environmental impact and of course does massive amounts of damage to our vehicles. I am convinced that environmental salt and sand damage shorten the life of even components like wheel bearings, brake calipers and other sealed components.
I am not sure if your area ever gets cold enough in your area for salt to become ineffective, but that happens around here. Once it gets below about -18C (0F) the roads are switched over to purely using sand. Since I live on a small rural back road, our township pretty much uses only sand for the majority of the winter, resulting in the roads being snow packed for much of the winter time. This snow pack actually becomes very ice like as it gets harder and harder, which is why even with AWD and a 4WD vehicle we have top quality winter tires.
Here are the MTO standards for different highways in Ontario:
The number represents the Highway Class
1 – Bare pavement within eight hours of the end of a winter storm, e.g Highway 401, Queen Elizabeth Way, Highway 11 four-lane sections
2 – Bare pavement within 16 hours of the end of a winter storm, e.g. Highway 17, Trans-Canada Highway in Ontario
3 – Bare pavement within 24 hours of the end of a winter storm, e.g. Highway 35
4 – Centre bare pavement within 24 hours of the end of a winter storm; fully bare pavement when conditions permit, e.g. Highway 516. Centre bare means a 2.5m strip in the middle of the road.
5 – Snow packed driving surface within 24 hours of the end of a winter storm. Excess snow is plowed off and sand is applied where required to improve friction.
The MTO has a standard to have bare pavement 90% of the time over winter. This is a pretty high standard, considering the large geographic area the province covers, and the many barren and isolated roads in the north. For the past 10 years the MTO has met the standard ranging for 91-97%, (97% for the last two winters).
Interesting you mention the tow plows. They only started using those around here in the relatively recent past, and I can’t say that I am a big fan. I understand the logic and cost savings behind them, but they operate at significantly slower speeds than two plows like they used to use. Typically around here, they do about 40 km (25 mph) on a major highway. I commute on to work on a class 1 highway, and getting stuck behind one is not fun.
Here is a neat little diagram that shows the snow cleaning stages in Ontario:
Som states may contract but I’m not aware of any. There was an attempt to contract out a small area a few years ago but bids were obscene so it was not awarded.
Yes we will get temperatures here we’ll below zero F with last winter being one. At one point there was a forecast for air temps of 33 and rain when ground temp was 17. Few realize ground temps will create problems in that scenario.
Given the requirement for clear pavement in Ontario it’s no wonder your vehicles rust so badly. Too many times I’ve seen temperatures drop further after a storm making clean up tough. Add your time requirements and I’ll bet you’re driving on mag chloride and calcium chloride.
The approach here is to stay until roads are safe and passable although that definition differs by road type. Nobody milks the overtime as they are all tired but this approach allows tremendous savings in material while still offering a safe road.
Cinders should be banned. Between the aforementioned heavy metals, and the fact that they absolutely wreck the paint on the front of your car, as no matter how much space you leave between your car and the one in front of you, they still get thrown up. I’ve also had chips and cracks in the windshield from some larger ones.
So glad I’m now in Southern California, where experiencing winter weather is purely optional.
Fascinating to see ‘behind the curtain’ a bit on an activity that’s been near and dear to us since moving to the Middle West years ago.
We’re in rural farm country, and have Interstate, State, County and Township roads that we regularly traverse. County roads might or might not get salt or ash (bridges often have tell-tale ‘brine stripes’), but the Township roads usually get nothing but infrequent snowplow passes (our county has about 135 miles of road, covered by not-that-many trucks).
It’s actually easier driving on the plowed-only roads than the ones that have been salted. The main reason for this is that County and Township roads don’t have as durable bases as State or Interstate routes, and with the frequent farm equipment and semi grain truck traffic, they stay badly rutted and potholed. This means the plows only scrape down to the peaks, leaving a lot of snow or ice behind, which gets slushy with salt applications. We had a serpentine belt popped off on the old ’98 Grand Caravan by heavy slush being splashed up into the engine compartment.
I actually enjoy getting out and plowing my two gravel driveways, and occasionally will plow our frontage in really deep snows when I know the plows are going to be delayed getting to us (they break out the V-plow-equipped Motor Grader for these storms!).
Thanks Jason;
You answered questions that I had but was just to darn lazy to look up myself!
I am an Ontario boy like Vince C so seeing how things are done in both countries is interesting.
One thing mentioned that I think is universal is who is in charge makes a big difference in winter road conditions.
For several years I had a long commute to work.( about 150km/90miles)
This took me through all variety of roads and 2 counties, 3 townships and one large (80,000 population) city. You knew the instant road crews changed just from road conditions.
It made a challenging commute time wise on occasion. I lived in the country and did several miles before I would hit a major highway.. It was not uncommon to time according to road conditions at home and then get slowed down the closer you got to “civilization” as the road conditions got worse!
It’s still a tough and thankless job and I salute anyone who takes it on so the rest of us can travel safer!
Here in NYC, the city uses garbage trucks from the sanitation department to remove snow. The trucks have a plow attachment and drive around the streets as it snows.
It will happen again soon, it does every winter. Some cutie pie reporter will tell you to keep a bag of kitty litter in your trunk in case you get stuck. She might be cute but she’s a dope. Kitty litter is clay. Wet clay is grease. Keep a bag of sand in your trunk. Kitty litter is made for one purpose. Kitty cats know what that purpose is.
It’s already happened. One asked me that the other day.
Late to comment but thanks for this very informative article, Jason! Allow me to second my fellow Australians and say I’m ever so glad it doesn’t snow here. When I lived in NYC, I did love the sight of snow falling… but I never had to drive in it!
Great post for sure. A glimpse into an unknown world.
How long does the machinery last with what would seem to be a huge exposure to corrosive forces?
I’m not aware of chemicals used anywhere in California. We have a second home at 6300′ near the intersection of SR18 and SR330 near Snow Valley. I’m there right now.
State highways are cleared by CalTrans and our local streets are done by private contractors paid by San Bernardino County. Snow is just piled up as a berm on the side of the road. Sometimes, I have to pick and shovel several feet of snow and ice just to park or get to the front door.
Snow chains are required when there is ice or snow and even AWD or 4×4 (with snow tires) have to carry chains in the vehicle for at least one axle. Legally, a “snow tire” must have at least 5/32″ tread depth, not the 2/32″ to be a legal road tire. Experience has shown me that that 5/32″ limit is correct. I have a set of winter tires (no studs) on the truck all year and they do work better than all terrain or all season on compact snow and ice. I saw a Subaru WRX spinning hopelessly on summer tires. I got the Suburban (with push bumper) out to push him to the top of the hill and out on the main highway.
I have been using winter tires for more than 20 years. Very few people understand what an advantage these tires are. Everything is “I’ve got all wheel drive”. I try to explain that all wheel drive looks for traction. Winter tires ARE traction.
Interesting read. I’ve heard that salt is ineffective below 20 degrees, so I wonder what the upper Midwest and other bitterly cold states use? Here in Maryland tons of salt is used, which is pretty effective as temps during most of our winter storms are around 29-34 degrees, and ice is a problem. In recent years pretreatment with salt brine has been tried, with so-so results.
In areas where temperatures are often consistently below when salt is effective, sand is also used to aid traction.
In Chicago, poor snow removal will mean the end of a Mayor’s job. After Daley the 1st died, successor did poorly in ‘Blizzard of ’79’. Was voted out months later.
Since ’79, even if an inch is predicted, they have a full force out.