MONROE — Winter is coming.
That is the sentiment from local highway officials who met on a warm and sunny autumn Oct. 10 to prepare for the upcoming season of treating slippery roads — something that often happens without fanfare while the rest of the county sleeps warmly in their beds.
The several large trucks lined up for fall inspection — the county has 22 of them — at the event will soon be plying the highways of Green County, plowing and salting. We may not want to start thinking about it, as most of the leaves have yet to fall, but they certainly are.
“We have to get ready now, this doesn’t happen overnight,” said Chris Narveson, Green County Highway Commissioner.
The first-ever “Salt Wise” event was hosted here by Allison Madison, a Wisconsin Salt Wise program manager, and Narveson. It was a chance for road officials to learn more about how to do more effective ice removal using less corrosive rock salt, which can be bad for both the environment and the automobile parts.
“The idea is to get a hands-on lesson here for these guys,” said Narveson, gesturing to about 30 high-vis(ibility) green-clad highway and city workers in attendance. “They are getting a real feel for what we are doing, especially when it comes to salt and brine.”
Increasingly, liquid brine is being applied to roads before and after road salt to boost salt’s effectiveness and reduce the amount of the expensive resource that is often wasted during hasty application. Some of Green County’s biggest orange plow trucks have been fitted with conformal liquid tanks to serve as dual purpose — salt and brine — applicators. Another large dump-style truck even has an “insert” that can be installed for winter road treatment and removed for summer highway construction and dirt hauling.
“We planned a lot for this,” Narveson said. “It’s costly to get into the brining business.”
Indeed, some of the newest, state-of-the-art trucks for that type of work can run in the $380,000 range, officials said, and the county does not have enough of them or enough places to store them away from the harsh weather.
And despite some critics, the brine solution is not more damaging to vehicles than all that salt.
“What’s worse for your vehicle is the salt,” Narveson said.
Added Madison: “Brine isn’t eating away at your car, rock salt is …”
County authorities say this brine solution is proving to be a cost-effective way to not only reduce the use of rock salt, but boost its effectiveness and the time it takes to have a life-saving melting effect on slippery roads. The county went through about 4,000 tons of salt across all county roads last winter.
Wisconsin has an unusual source for the brine stuff — nearly 100,000 gallons of cheese brine from at least two local cheese producers was spread on Green County roads last year. And the county is seeking to use more this coming winter, with an eye on cutting overall cost and boosting salt’s impact.
“If we could get down to using half the amount of salt each year, then we are looking at as much as $200,000 to $400,000 in savings,” said Narveson. “That’s a significant amount.”
Salt Wise is a coalition of organizations from across Wisconsin trying to reduce salt pollution in lakes, streams, and drinking water. The group’s goals include: educate residents, leaders and winter maintenance professionals on salt pollution and solutions, provide training and promote best practices and recognize contractors committed to using the right amount of salt for conditions.