Republic file photo Snow plows are parked for repairs in the new Bartholomew County Highway Garage in Columbus after county highway employees moved into the new facility last month.
It might be easy to get the wrong idea when you drive on rural Bartholomew County roads after the next winter storm.
That’s because local county highway crews have used a mixture of sand and salt to treat icy roads for several decades.
“Typically, we have gone with a 3-to-1 sand-salt mix,” Bartholomew County commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said. “But the sand is dirty and leaves residue on the county roads.”
Last winter, a number of residents complained that their roads weren’t being treated because the callers could see no sand left on the roads, Kleinhenz said.
Bartholomew County highway crews are now using pure salt, instead of a salt-and-sand mixture, whenever it’s practical.
While sand provides traction, it does nothing to melt snow and ice, and is easily covered up if more ice or snow falls on it, Bartholomew County Highway engineer Danny Hollander said. That forces county highway crews to repeatedly plow and treat the same roads, he said.
While pure salt is more expensive, county officials say they are hoping this change will reduce other expenses.
“If we save on doing less trips over the same roads, we will save time, as well as wear and tear on equipment,” Hollander said.
But the use of pure salt can cause problems if excessive amounts are used. For example, it can corrode the steel in cars, trucks, bridges, and reinforcing rods in concrete, which weakens valuable infrastructure. Salt can also be washed away into rivers and streams, which threatens freshwater organisms.
The county will still need to keep a supply of sand on hand. Pure salt begins to lose its effectiveness when the temperature drops below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and will not work if the thermometer falls below 15 degrees.
When it gets that cold, or salt supplies begin to run low, sand will again be added to the salt to give vehicles some type of traction, Hollander said.
It also helps to be proactive. Hollander says his crews will put down a salt-brine mixture before the region receives a significant snow or ice storm.
“But if (the winter storm) starts with a rain that eventually turns into snow, that kind of dilutes it,” Hollander said.
Unlike larger departments such as the Indiana Department of Transportation, the Bartholomew County Highway Department doesn’t have enough employees to create shifts to clear roads, Kleinhenz said. That is one reason why the county is trying to find ways to keep crews from plowing the same roads repeatedly, he said.
Right now, Indiana is one of only 12 states that uses a salt and sand mixture with a rate that typically falls within a range of 250 to 300 pounds per lane mile during snow and ice conditions.
