Road and Bridge stepping up winter readiness

September 30, 2016

Boundary County Road and Bridge has made a long term agreement with the Idaho Transportation Department to operate a traction sand storage and reload facility on Gypsy Lane south of Naples. By having this covered sand storage at the south end of the county, county road crews can offer a faster response time and apply traction sand in a shorter intervals of time between loads with fewer man and equipment hours. The faster response provides for safer public travel. This is possible by eliminating the travel time from Naples to the facility at the landfill with the small sand spreaders to reload. The new storage facility will be restocked with sand hauled by larger transport trucks as needed, ideally on clear days when there is not a need for plows to operate. Boundary County Road and Bridge has a similar agreement for a facility on Pywell Road in the Copeland area. Construction is planned for the 2017 work season. It will offer the same efficiency as the Naples facility. The county has nearly completed its salt brine facility, which will make liquid deicer affordable and readily available for pre-storm applications and for on-board mixing with traction sand for application by spreader truck. The brining facility will mix kiln-dried and cleaned salt with water to make liquid deicer. This offers a substantial cost savings, as the county saves on processing and on freight, as the water doesn't have to be hauled in. Another plus is that the county can mix the deicer as needed and not have to order a full load and have left over at the end of the season that would have to be stored. Road and bridge crews will be applying granular salt on some of the troublesome grades and hills during snow storms, which is proven to provide better deicing and traction during these events with less machinery and the related manpower costs. The salt provides longer lasting effectiveness over sand and liquid deicers. The salt spreader has the capability of matching the salt delivery rate to the truck speed. If the truck slows down, the delivery rate is decreased automatically. Road and brige now has three state-of-the-art motor graders with wings, six sand spreaders with plows, one granular salt applicator, one state-of-the-art liquid deicer applicator, one pickup with plow and wheel loaders available for snow removal. The salt products used contain a corrosion inhibitor to reduce salt damage to vehicles. When the winter comes and the need is apparent, crew shifts are split to provide seven day a week coverage for plowing and sanding. With these products, machines, improved efficiency and the reduction of costs, Boundary County Road and Bridge is on board to do all they can to provide to provide good winter maintenance to Boundary County's 340 plus miles of roadway this winter. Motorists should always remember to give plows and sanders the right of way, and please don't park where plows need to operate. To learn more, call (208) 267-3838.