Salt Savvy Tips for Municipal Snow Fighters

There are a variety of sustainable salt practices that municipal winter maintenance professionals can follow that both keep people safe and reduce use of salt. This includes such things as monitoring pavement temperatures and adjusting salt accordingly, calibrating equipment, using segmented and secondary plows, and using a salt-water mixture to pre-wet salt at the spinner or as a liquid on paved surfaces. Lake Champlain Sea Grant developed a table to describe a variety of options municipalities might consider, with pros and cons for the environment, costs, liability and service described. You can access that table here. In addition, Lake Champlain Sea Grant partnered with several Vermont communities to develop short videos we hope will help winter maintenance professionals understand such techniques. Those follow.

Equipment Calibration

How-Tos for Municipal Trucks

When municipal salting equipment is new, an initial one-time calibration process is required. The process is described by Dan Guillmette with the City of South Burlington, Vermont, in this three-and-a-half-minute video. This video also includes instructions for doing an annual catch or drop test to calibrate the salt spreaders on the trucks.

 

Each year, salt trucks should be calibrated using a drop or catch test. This 2-minute video made in partnership with the communities of South Burlington and Milton, Vermont, explains how to do this. Thanks to employees with both communities and Vince Franke with Peregrine Productions for creating these videos for us!

Monitoring Pavement Temperatures and Using Brine to Pre-wet Salt

Between 2020 and 2023, the community of Hyde Park, Vermont, cut its road salt use by almost 50% by using a suite of best practices. They calibrate equipment, measure air and pavement temperatures, and make a salt water mixture (called brine), which they use to pre-wet dry salt at the spinner on their trucks. This help to prevent the salt from bouncing off of the pavement, keeping it in place where it is meant to do the work rather than negatively impacting road side vegetation or running into local waterways without helping to reduce ice on roads. Pre-wetting the salt just before it is applied to the road also allows it to start working immediately, as rock salt must be wet to work its magic to lower the freezing point of water and minimize ice formation on roads and other surfaces.

 

Trainings

Lake Champlain Sea Grant has sponsored or co-hosted a number of workshops and conferences to educate professionals about low salt best practices that allow our roads, parking lots, and driveways to remain safe, while at the same time reducing use of salt to benefit the environment, protect infrastructure, and save money. We have hosted or co-hosted workshops for private and municipal employees since 2017. Access agendas and presentations from past workshops and conferences below.

Winter Maintenance Training for Parking Lots and Sidewalks - October 25, 2021

  • Training based on the courses and customized for Vermont and the Lake Champlain basin

2021 Adirondack-Champlain Salt Summit co-hosted with Lake George Association - October 14, 2021

Road Salt Education Workshop, South Burlington, VT - October 24, 2019

Agenda & Presentations

Adirondack Champlain Regional Salt Summit, Lake Placid, NY - October 3, 2019

Agenda & Presentations
  • 2019 Road Salt Education Workshop Agenda (PDF)
  • Setting the Stage for Today - Brendan Wiltse, AuSable River Association
  • Lake George Salt Reduction Successes - Dan Stec, NYS Assembly, District 114; Eric Siy, the FUND for Lake George; Raqib Omer, Viaseys; Rob Vopleus, Town of Lake George Highway Dept; Matt Coffin, Town of Hague Highway Dept; Steve Johnson, Warren County DPW
  • How Changing Weather Patterns Are Impacting Winter Maintenance Approaches - Frank Lombardo, President/CEO, WeatherWorks
  • Adirondack Park-wide Pilot and Pledge Recognition - Brittany Christenson, AdkAction

Lake Champlain Watershed Deicing Conference, Burlington, VT - October 10, 2018

Agenda & Presentations

Lake Champlain Watershed Deicing Conference, Burlington, VT - September 29, 2017

 

Salt Smart Certified Professionals

In October 2021, Lake Champlain Sea Grant hosted Fortin Consulting to provide the . 

These individuals successfully completed the training and an exam and became Smart Salt Certified Winter Maintenance Professionals:
  • Robert Cary, S&D Snowblowing, Essex, Vermont
  • Adam Cate, City of South Burlington, Vermont
  • Nicholas DeGraff, S&D Snowblowing, Essex, Vermont
  • Christine Dougherty, Town of Williston, Vermont
  • Keith Dunbar, S&D Snowblowing, Essex, Vermont
  • David Lenz, Middlesex Ice Control, Middletown, Connecticut
  • Dan Roberge, Town of Essex, Vermont
  • Lisa Schaeffler, Town of Williston, Vermont
  • Aaron Smith, S&D Snowblowing, Essex, Vermont