Spreading the news of winter maintenance chemicals
The opening general session of the American Public Works Association (APWA) North American Snow Conference, held April 25 in Lexington, Kentucky, began with an afternoon of education sessions. Wendy Frederickson, Mn/DOT's winter maintenance coordinator, and I presented in a session titled "Winter Maintenance Chemicals and Their Impact on the Environment." It proved to be one of the most highly attended and most requested programs of the conference.
To a standing-room-only crowd of approximately 240 persons, we talked about the materials we are familiar with and those we are learning to use here in this most frigid of states. We spoke of the challenges we face in keeping our roads safe with a tight budget while also preserving our valuable environmental resources, especially our water and air. Additionally, in a state so large and with so many varied climatic and togographical regions, we explained that a blanket approach to combating the winter snows has proved nigh impossible. This combination of constraints and variables allows us from Minnesota to speak on the many varied situations encountered throughout the upper two-thirds of the United States and Canada.
We were also asked to facilitate two roundtable discussions. Monday afternoon our topic was "Getting Started in Anti-icing." Here, many requested our presentation for its information on how chemicals work, when they quit working, and what precautions an agency should use while learning the application of liquids.
Our second roundtable, "Challenges in Our Industry," was also well attended. Folks were seeking information on implementing new strategies through the use of liquids, overcoming reluctance to change, and mitigating environmental impacts while maintaining safe roads. A common thread throughout the roundtable discussions was the fear of causing slippery conditions through the use of liquids.
Deciding which concurrent educational sessions to attend was difficult as many confronted controversial and tricky issues (many of which we face here in Minnesota). Running more cost-effective winter operations, reducing consumption and overtime, mixing mag or calcium with salt brine, storing chemicals, making the best use of RWIS with anti-icing, and using AVL systems were just some of the topics covered.
The conference provided the perfect venue for the exchange of information. We received a variety of ideas and information from agencies that encounter some of the same challenges we see here, while agencies from many states and Germany requested information from us. "Objective and technically solid," and "You had the best information at the whole conference," were just some of the very positive comments made about our presentation. We are proud to report that we have been invited back to speak next year.
—Kathy Schaefer
To hear just how good Kathy is at spreading the news, sign up today for a CTAP course at your maintenance shop. Call Kathy at 651-282-2160 or e-mail her at Kathleen.Schaefer@dot.state.mn.us.