More and more of us are scraping frost off the windshield in the morning. a few haveseen a snowflake or two. Winter officially begins inless than two weeks. But winter weather might not wait that long. Forecasters say parts of Missouri will see snow this weekend.
Tim Jackson maintenance liaison engineer for the department of transportation, is one of those helping the department get ready to clear the roads when the snow flies seriously.
He says the department has been getting its equipment ready so trucks and graders can be loaded and into place when the first warning of a snowstorm comes in. The salt, 250 tons of it sofar, from mines in Kansas and Louisiana is in storage. But the department also heavily relies on liquids–salt brine, liquid calcium chloride, and increasing amounts of beet juice from North Dakota that helps the brine and chloride work better at lower temperatures.
The department has been fixing equipment that was worn or damaged in last winter’s fight. Jackson says road crews will be ready at first flake. In fact they might be working some roads before the first flake, pre-treating roads and bridges to keep the snow from bonding to the pavement so easily.
Tim Jackson talks snow with Bob Priddy 13:26 mp3
