A heavier-than-usual snowfall this winter has forced Ohio to spend more time and money keeping the roadways clear for traffic.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has spent more than $1.15 million in Franklin County this winter, compared with about $350,000 last winter.
“We’ve used about three times as much salt this year than last year, and we’ve spent about three times as much,” said ODOT spokeswoman Lindsay Mendicino.
ODOT is responsible for all of the interstates in Franklin County as well as all of the roads outside the city limits.
Franklin County employs 80 salt truck drivers who drive the county’s 55 trucks.
“During storms we have about 40 trucks out on the roads, and our guys usually work 16-hour shifts,” Mendicino said.
During Sunday’s snowstorm, ODOT had 42 drivers on the roads during the day. Eighteen drivers were out overnight looking for slick spots on ramps, bridges and any place where the pavement changes texture.
“The snow was harder because it came down so fast,” said Mike Lang, the county manager.
He said drivers stay at their homes until they are needed. The county tries to watch the weather closely and get salt truck drivers on the roads an hour to an hour and a half before a storm hits.
Last winter, Franklin County spent $94,000 on labor. This season it has already been forced to spend $320,000 on labor to have the roads cleared.
This season’s higher costs will not harm the budget, Lang said.
“The last three years were not typical. This year is more of a typical year,” Lang said.
Mendicino said ODOT typically budgets for heavier winters, not for winters as light as the last few have been. As a result, the department has plenty of salt and money left.
A new method was tested last year and is being used on a large scale this year is the use of brine. Brine, which is essentially salt water, has been used to pre-treat roads to eliminate black ice and help the melting process.
“We started testing it last season by pre-wetting our salt with brine, and we found that it was very effective,” Mendicino said.
Brine, not salt, is what actually melts the snow, Lang said. The salt mixes with the water in snow to form brine, which then melts the snow. When the roads are wetted ahead of time with brine, the results are much quicker.
Brine has other advantages as well.
“If you’re running down any road at 35 miles per hour, the salt tends to bounce off the road — you lose about 30 percent of your salt,” Lang said. “By pre-wetting it, it stays in a clump. You get 95 percent of the salt to stay on the road.”
Brine reduces salt use by 20 to 30 percent. This could save Ohio taxpayers millions annually, Mendicino said. While the county has already used $150,000 for salt this season, it has only used $6,000 for brine since brine only costs a few cents per gallon.
Traffic and temperature affect how well the salt works, Lang said.
“The more traffic there is, the more cars there are to crush the salt and make it work,” Lang said.
Salt starts to lose its efficiency at about 20 degrees Fahrenheit; it works best between 25 and 32 degrees.
According to the National Weather Service, Columbus has received 18.8 inches of snow since Dec. 1. This is a 5.6 inches higher than the average and nearly triple than last year’s total of 6.4 inches.
According to the ODOT meteorologists, Columbus can expect another five to six inches of snow in both February and March.
