By Carla Branch
Alexandrianews.org
City salt trucks line Business Center Drive anticipating a winter storm. (Photo: Regan Kireilis)
The 39 trucks are loaded with salt and calcium chloride and are lined up on Business Center Drive just waiting for the first snowflakes to fall. The snow removal budget is gone but Alexandrians can expect the same level of service that they have always received.
“We’ve had about 23 inches of snow so far this season and are expecting more. We used our entire snow removal budget during the big storm in December and just had to deal with six inches of snow last weekend. We have been told to continue to purchase salt and sand and that the money will be available from other accounts to pay the bill,” said Rich Baier, director of transportation and environmental services.
18 year T and ES employee, Ycedro Davila operates a front-loader that will fill trucks with salt. (Photo: Regan Kireilis)
The December storm cost just over $1 million and last weekend’s storm cost between $28,000 and $45,000. “We have gotten all of our invoices from contractors and are submitting a request for reimbursement for the December storm for around $400,000 because Virginia was under a state of emergency during the storm and we are eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency funds,” Baier said.
In a normal year, the City gets 15 to 16 inches of snow and uses about 3000 tons of salt. “So far, we have used about 6000 tons of salt and depending on what happens, we may need more,” Baier said.
The salt is stored in the new salt barn at 2900 Business Center Drive. Trucks drive into the barn and a front-loader puts the salt onto the truck. Then the truck continues on to the calcium chloride tanks and gets a tank of that liquid to use in pretreating roads.
“The trucks don’t go out until there is plowable snow and then they begin to spread salt, which is mixed with brine to make it easier to spread in the snow,” said Joni Merrick, the T & ES safety specialist.
The crews will work in 12-hour shifts beginning at 7:00 p.m. today and continuing until the roads are plowed. “We want to urge motorists to stay off the roads until we have an opportunity to plow them,” Baier said. “Last weekend, there was very heavy traffic on the roads during the storm and that made it extremely difficult for our plows to do what they need to do. If cars are weaving between plows and motorists are abandoning their cars because they get stuck, we can’t clear the roads.”