Road crews prepare for snow

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Road crews didn't waste any time preparing for the incoming storm. 90 Snow Force drivers reported for duty at 11 a.m. Thursday.

They immediately began working on their trucks. They checked fluid levels, lights, engines, and even checked their blades.

But crews don't expect to be pushing much snow this time around. Instead they are preparing to fight the ice. The snow force's plan is treat 6,000 miles of roadway before the storm hits.

“Once we start seeing those beginning levels of precipitation, the clouds coming in, that is when we know it is definitely happening and we need to get treating the roads,” said DPW spokesperson Lesley Malone.

DPW crews treat roads with magnesium chloride, a green salt-like compound designed to keep precipitation from freezing on roadways.

INDOT takes a different approach. At their Brookeville Road substation, treating roads begins with a mountain of salt.

An operator uses a bucket to scoop up a ton or two at a time. He then dumps it into a large mixer. There, water is automatically added.

A 28 percent brine solution is mixed together and pumped into storage tanks. The brine is transferred to a truck and then sprayed on the roads.

In the Indianapolis sub-district, five drivers cover 1,650 lane miles. The science behind the salt water mixture is simple.

“The water evaporates, it dries leaving the salt residue on the roadway. When it starts snowing or freezing rain, whatever the wintry mix may bring, it will mix with that and it acts as a preventative to keep it from bonding with the pavement,” said INDOT spokesperson Nathan Riggs.

INDOT has been spraying the interstates and ramps throughout the day. DPW crews wait to treat the roads until the storm is close.  That way, cars won't blow or push the salt like crystals off the surface before the precipitation hits.

At Sullivan's Hardware on North Keystone, bags of salt sit in the entryway ready for the taking. But there weren't many takers by the afternoon hour. 

Store staff hoped that would change.

“We've seen a little bit of traffic so far. Usually it's more when people get off work or on their way home we will see people come in and pick up a couple of bags of salt just to be safe,” said employee Andrew Sullivan.