Snow plows, salt and staff ready for winter in Muncie, Delaware County
MUNCIE, Ind. — Daily trips above freezing notwithstanding, Thanksgiving is past and preparations for an impending full-bore winter are underway in local highway and street departments.
"I'll tell you something," Delaware County Highway Superintendent Tommie Humbert said. "Always prepare for the worst."
Forecasts of a mild season on top of a recent history of relatively light winters locally, short on bitter cold and snow, are not tricking the professionals who keep the roads passable.
"It's difficult to judge," said Donnie Wright, supervisor at the Muncie Street department.
The first batch of salt the city orders to cover slick roadways is created in April — spring following the last winter. No one is guessing about how bad things will get then. They get what they need when they can get it.
Both Muncie and Delaware County road crews well set going into the snow and ice months. Wright said the city has 2,000 tons of salt on hand and another 3,450 tons on order. That sounds like a lot of salt, but a heavy winter can deplete stocks fast.
Muncie mixes the salt with a substance called Beet Heet, a liquid containing beet juice that allows to salt to melt ice better at lower temperatures, Wright said.
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At the Delaware County Highway Department, it is all salt and sand, with a storage structure filled with 1,000 tons and more available if needed, said Humbert.
"The mechanics are putting the spreaders on the trucks now," he said on Monday.
The county has a fleet of 21 trucks, both single-axle and the heavier tandem trucks, with mounted plows ready to hit the roads when needed.
Humbert said his 29 drivers are so thorough other counties have called him asking what they've added to their salt to get the roads so clean.
"It was just manpower," he said.
He brings trucks in early to get the roads clear in time for schools to open and brings them back out in the afternoons to open things up for the trips home.
"We've got to make sure people's roads are clear," he said.
The county oversees 785 miles of road, taking care of the main roads with the most traffic first. Many of his drivers sort of enjoy the challenge, he said. "It's crazy," Humbert said.
Plowing roads and streets and highways in traffic is different from plowing driveways and parking lots. "There is a lot of danger out there," he said. "Some of these guys love it."
The county is able, in the face of a big snow, to run two 12-hour shifts and keep trucks on the road. The city is not so lucky, said Wright.
The city has 12 big trucks a one small truck to handle 360 lane miles of street. The street department is "a little understaffed" right now with 15 employees who can drive.
When a storm is headed Muncie's way, the department calls all-hands-on-deck to take to the streets and keep them as safe and passable as possible.
In an average snowfall under six inches, the city will work the main roads and secondary roads only. In major snows of six inches or more, the city will go into neighborhoods and plow the side streets. In big snows the city can also call on the aid of the Muncie Sanitary District, which has its own equipment.
Wright said the city has a few older trucks that are in their last year of service on streets.
Humbert said that in a perfect world he would have all new trucks. "It's not a perfect world," he added.
Both departments are prepared to take on the winter with the people and equipment they have ready to go.
David Penticuff is the local government reporter at the Star Press. Contact him at dpenticuff@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Snow plows, salt and staff ready for winter in Muncie, Delaware County
