In-depth education for only $25
The county’s groundwater resource manager explains that one tablespoon of salt contaminates five gallons of water forever. By applying that calculation to the average five-yard plow truck, attendees quickly understand how winter maintenance affects water supplies.
The course also offers several best management practices:
Spreader calibration. Do operators know what they’re putting down? Is setting 2 on the salter or sprayer appropriate for the situation or just what your agency’s always used?
Calibrating equipment doesn’t cost anything; overapplication wastes time and money and increases environmental damage.
Vehicle and equipment cleaning also is covered.
Weather basics. Air temperature has nothing to do with effective snow and ice control; success depends on pavement temperature.
It can take up to four times the amount of material to break a pavement/ice bond than to prevent it. Dry salt shouldn’t be applied when pavement temperature falls below 15° F. Usually, 300 pounds per mile is enough.
Never use salt to “burn off” snow from pavement. Plowing removes the accumulation; the salt put down during and after is just to prevent the bond from re-forming.
We supplement this information with application rate recommendations, route cycle times, and charts.
Snow and ice control policies. What’s your agency trying to achieve? Is it realistic?
Let’s say you work in a region where pavement temperatures are routinely around zero and your agency doesn’t use liquids. Does a bare pavement policy make sense?
Dry and wet material storage. In addition to good housekeeping practices, the course addresses the true monetary and environmental costs of abrasives.
After lectures, the class splits between a hands-on calibration demonstration and an exercise that presents different scenarios for application rates.
Finally, those who score 80% or better on an exam receive their operator certification sticker.
Next Page: How we’re preparing for water monitoring
