City ready for winter weather

By Mike Ford, The Delphos Herald
Published:  Saturday, December 5, 2009 (3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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mford@delphosherald.com

DELPHOS — Neither the National Weather Service or local leaders can prevent snow, sleet and freezing rain from turning a Rockwellesque winter landscape into a frozen nightmare. However, the City of Delphos is prepared to address the effects of inclement weather on local roadways now that the season approaches.
Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Rostorfer said the department will use brine again this year. Employees will mix sodium chloride with water as a proactive measure taken in light of weather forecasts. It will prevent snow and ice from bonding with street surfaces, improving conditions and snow plow efforts. It will be applied before storms hit, making roads easier to plow. Because it’s liquid, the mixture can be quickly and evenly spread over a roadway under conditions of 15 degrees and higher. Not only will drivers’ needs be positively affected, but so will the city’s budget.
“Last year we had a mixup and didn’t have a contract with the county and we got left out in the cold and had a shortage of salt but this year, we have a contract for 280-320 tons. It costs around $70 a ton but it’s a necessity as far as safety is concerned,” Rostorfer said.
Salt brine is mixed locally and applied with a tank hauled behind a pickup truck. It will not damage the paint on residents’ cars because the diluted salt is less corrosive than granules, which will also be used this winter.
“We have our salt bin as full as it can be and we have the account set up with the county; we brought the plows inside and are ready to go when we have bad weather,” Rostorfer added.
Residents shouldn’t think the city is being complacent when roads do not appear to be properly addressed because there is often little that can be done anyway.
There has to be at least an inch of snow accumulation for plowing to be possible. With salting, a little snow is safer to drive on than an ice pack. The city avoids applying salt if it’s going to melt, only to refreeze. Often, if crews were to salt in the middle of the night, that would happen so when a late-night freeze is forecasted, salt is not laid down.

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