Minnesota Mousetrap: Everyday innovations

Kudos to Minnesota’s 2022 Build a Better Mousetrap award recipients, who came up with creative innovations to solve everyday transportation challenges!

The City of Rochester took first place for its plow truck pre-wet nurse tank. Crow Wing County (Where’s My Snowplow app) and Lake of the Woods County (shear attachment) tied for second. Three other projects were runners-up.

First- and second-place winners were awarded $450 and $350 Visa gift cards for their departments. All submissions advance to the national Build a Better Mousetrap recognition program where they compete against departments from across the country. The Minnesota competition is open to all local transportation agencies—county, city, township, and tribal—in the state. It is sponsored by the Minnesota Local Road Research Board and administered by Minnesota LTAP.

First Place: City of Rochester

Plow Truck Pre-Wet Nurse Tank

brine nurse tank on side of winter truck

Problem: While standard practice for Rochester’s public works staff is to pre-wet their road salt at the spinner, their plow trucks only come with standard box-mounted saddle tanks. Once these tanks are less than half full, the brine sloshes around enough while driving that the control system will error out—resulting in the operator turning off the pre-wet and just applying dry salt for the remainder of their route.

Solution: The public works crew added a small nurse tank below the truck’s saddle tank. The saddle tank’s gravity feeds into this nurse tank and the brine pump draws out of this tank, pumping brine to the spinner—thus enabling complete use of all brine carried on the truck. Drivers are now able to apply salt through an entire plow event and use less salt (since using pre-wet brine is proven to be as effective on roads using less material), which is beneficial both for the environment and the plowing budget. This modification cost about $1,778 in labor and materials.

Second Place (tie): Crow Wing County

Where's My Snowplow?

Screenshot of Crow Wing County for Where's My Snowplow?

Problem: The highway department wanted an easier way for residents to check whether the county snowplows were out working, the locations of the plows, and whether specific roads had been plowed.

Solution: The county developed an app that would allow residents to see the location of snowplows and whether the roads they need to travel are plowed yet—allowing them to make safety-conscious decisions in real time. The Snow Removal Status app was developed by implementing software that pulls in GPS locations already existing on the snowplows, leveraging previous technological investments used throughout the county and eliminating the need to purchase new software.

Second Place (tie): Lake of The Woods County

Shear head on excavator

Shear Attachment

Problem: Clearing trees in the right-of-way using hand saws and chainsaws was both time-intensive and unsafe due to falling trees. It was also expensive to buy a logging equipment set-up for this purpose, only to use it for a short amount of time each year.

Solution: Lake of the Woods County purchased a used shear head from a logger and retrofitted it to attach to their excavator. It’s now much safer and faster for staff to remove trees or open rights-of-way.

Runner Up: Crow Wing County

Sandbag Quick-Filler

Sandbag filler

Problem: Filling sandbags typically takes two people: one to shovel in the material and one to hold the bag to accept the sand. One person can do it, but it is inefficient and cumbersome.

Solution: A county staffer had to fill sandbags by himself and knew he could develop a better way to complete the task more efficiently. Using existing and scrap materials including plywood, bolts, caster wheels, scrap metal, and a plastic sandbag chute, he developed a sandbag quick-filler that one person can use—saving both time and money in this work. If the county has a situation where they need to fill a large quantity of sandbags, they will have higher output and fewer people committed to the task.

Runner Up: Crow Wing County

Pick A Mile

Problem: County Residents often asked if there was a program for roadside cleanup and were disappointed appointed to learn there wasn’t anything official. They were encouraged to clean roadside ditches and given bags and vests if available, but there was nothing in place to recognize these groups for their efforts or even track how many roadways were being cleaned annually.

screenshot of Crow Wing County Map for Pick-A-Mile

Solution: After a passionate request from a resident in 2021, the highway department established a roadside cleanup program. Through the Pick A Mile link, residents can select the roadway they want to clean, request high-visibility safety vests and garbage bags, and choose a date for the pick to take place (so staff can quickly dispose of what is picked up). Volunteers are also recognized online, eliminating the need to maintain roadway signs. The county used already-existing software to develop this app, so there was no cost beyond staff time.

Runner Up: Lake of The Woods County

Modified Bulldozer Blade

modified bulldozer blade shoveling snow

Problem: During large snow events, county staff use an excavator and open up ditches to prevent flooding in the spring. A normal excavator bucket gets filled with sticky, slushy snow and staff cannot compact the snowbanks. Additionally, the ditch is full of water, so workers are not able to put a bulldozer in the ditch.

Solution: Lake of the Woods County staff had an old blade from a bulldozer sitting around. They welded brackets onto it to make a quick attachment for the excavator. This modified blade makes it much faster and easier to open ditches that are full of slush and snow to prevent spring flooding.