The county secondary roads department used a new strategy dealing with icy roads Monday – a “V-pick” mounted on a maintainer- an “amazing system,” according to county engineer Wade Weiss.
Weiss reported to the county supervisors Tuesday that his department worked from 5 am to 5 pm the previous day dealing with the quarter-inch of ice the covered the county. On paved roads the specially-equipped maintainers went ahead, breaking up ice. It was followed by a truck spreading a mix of sand and chloride. Only the maintainers worked on the gravel roads, and Weiss said the V-picks worked well there.
The county uses a blend of one part chloride and two parts sand at a cost of $30 a ton. Weiss said that in two ice events this winter the department has used 100 tons of the mix. He reported that’s half the stockpile, but he has another 600 tons of chloride in storage. “We’re in good shape for the rest of the season,” he said about supplies.
Weiss said that not much traffic Monday made their job easier.
He planned that his crew will spend a lot of time on the gravel roads this week with the spring-like thaw.
