Blacktop shows through on the treated portions of Marion Street, above, and the south end of Worthley Street, below, after last week’s snow. (Photos by Bobby Holiday. Click to enlarge)
By WIL FULTON
A salt brine pretreatment used to retard the formation of roadway ice passed its first test last week, Red Bank officials say.
So far, so good, DPW supervisor Bobby Holiday said of the chemical, following a light snowfall last Friday and Saturday.
According to Holiday, more than 90 percent of the roads in town were treated with over 25,000 gallons of the salt brine solution costing a mere 10 cents per gallon leaving distinct chalk lines behind when its laid down.
Holiday said he was very impressed with the results.
You could definitely tell it made an impact, he told redbankgreen this week. I went around on Saturday morning and took some pictures, and you can see where we laid the solution down and where we didnt.
Holiday said that in future storms, the salt-brine will be most effective when used in conjunction with other, traditional storm measures, like snow plows and standard rock salt.
Its really used best as a preventative method, he said while showing redbankgreen the truck the town uses to spread the solution. But it can be very effective as part of the overall package. Were working to get the best possible mix of preventative methods possible, and we are definitely going to continue to use and experiment with the salt-brine.
In future storms, the trucks will make at least a couple passes per street, and he estimates that it will take between 3,000 and 3,500 gallons to cover all the towns roads, including side-streets and dead-ends.
This was a pretty dry snow, he said, so Im looking forward to seeing what this can do when we get bigger snow storms with wetter and greater amounts of snow.
The National Weather Service forecasts light snow for the Green this weekend.
