DECEMBER 22, 2009 ISSUE
Big Snow is Big Job for NCDOT, Town of Boone Public Works
Snowfall Requires More than 1,150 Tons of Salt in Watauga County, 700 Tons in Avery County
King Street looked like a construction zone on Sunday, December 20, as Boone Public Works and NCDOT staff worked around the clock to remove impressive amounts of snow from the roadway. By the time the sun came out (briefly) on Monday, between 18 and 27 inches of snow had fallen in Boone over the weekend, which caused a host of traffic accidents but was a welcome sign for area ski slopes and those wanting to just play in the snow, such as the Kelley family, pictured on bottom. Photos by Ken Ketchie and Jon Morris
Every person in the High Country was affected by the snowstorm that blew through last weekend, blanketing roadways, cars and, well, everything.
General Manager Brad Moretz reported that Appalachian Ski Mountain received 22 inches of snow last weekend, and Beech Mountain received 21 inches of snow, according to Fred Pfohl, owner of Fred’s General Mercantile.
Pfohl’s store is a recording station for the National Weather Service, and he is required to report precipitation totals daily at 7:00 a.m., he said.
As of 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 19, 14 inches of snow had fallen; as of Sunday, December 20, an additional five inches of snow had accumulated; and as of Monday, December 21, Beech Mountain had received two more inches, Pfohl said.
Blowing Rock received varying amounts of snow in different places around town, with an average of 18 to 24 inches, said Tracy Brown, executive director of the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority.
According to a December 17 press release, N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Division 11 maintenance crews prepared for the snowstorm that began on Friday, December 18, by putting a salt brine solution on interstates and primary roads in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Caldwell, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin counties in advance.
“It seemed to work pretty well,” said Michael Poe, NCDOT district engineer for Avery, Caldwell and Watauga counties.
“It’s definitely not going to solve all our snow and ice problems, [but] it really saves time [because] it prevents a strong bond from forming between the road and ice.”
Putting salt out in the form of a liquid salt brine solution is less expensive and allows the NCDOT “to do something a day or two in advance,” Poe said, adding that NCDOT has utilized the solution to pre-treat roadways for about five years.
The solution dries after it is poured, but the salt crystals remain in the pavement itself, and when snow falls on the pavement, the moisture causes the salt solution to form again, he explained.
For a really light snow, the salt brine solution may be all that is required, Poe said.
The epic snowstorm last weekend, however, required much more than the pretreatment of roadways. As of Monday morning, December 21, NCDOT had put down 1,000 tons of salt in Watauga County and 700 tons of salt in Avery County, Poe said.
Kevin Whittington, maintenance engineer for Watauga County, estimated on Monday morning that another 200 tons of salt would be used in Watauga County by Monday afternoon.
Salt is purchased from Morton Salt in Knoxville, Tenn., Whittington said.
Equipment units and NCDOT employees have worked around the clock to keep roadways usable since Friday morning at 6:00 a.m., he said.
The heavy snowfall, in combination with many vehicle accidents, hindered this job.
“There were a lot of accidents on Friday,” Poe said. “[There were] a lot of folks in cars [and] in trucks that really shouldn’t have been out on the roads.
“If you’re going to be out on the roads, make sure you have four-wheel drive or snow chains,” Poe advised. “When roads are blocked [by accidents], it really hampers our efforts [because] we can’t get our trucks through, either.”
The high number of accidents on Friday is “not uncommon,” Poe said. “The first big snow we have every year, it’s typically like that.”
The snow was wetter than past snows, though, which increased the workload of the NCDOT.
“This has been a difficult snow to move [because of its] high moisture content,” Whittington said. “We’ve been having to use a lot of graders to open roads up.”
Avery County’s 17 plows have been combing the roads since Friday, as have Watauga County’s 27 plow and spreader trucks, four motor graders, five rented motor graders, three push trucks—which only have the capability to plow—and one bulldozer, Whittington said.
“We have three rented graders still working at this time,” he added.
In Watauga County, NCDOT put about 950 tons of small aggregate (small rocks) on the roads to help with traction last weekend, and will use “another 150 to 200 tons of that today [Monday, December 21], I’m sure,” Whittington said.
NCDOT employs 25 individuals in Avery County, 37 individuals in Watauga County and also uses contractors in both counties, Poe said.
While the NCDOT takes care of U.S. and N.C. highways, as well as major secondary roads—such as Boone’s Junaluska Road, Poplar Grove Road, Rivers Street and Old East King Street, to name a few—the Town of Boone Public Works is in charge of 43 miles of city streets that include more than 100 streets, said Blake Brown, director of Public Works.
Like NCDOT, Public Works also utilized a salt brine solution to pre-treat roadways, Brown said.
The 4,700 gallons of solution cost $1,175, whereas, by comparison, enough pure salt to treat the roads would have cost almost $6,000, Brown said.
Once a heavy snow falls, the best option is pure salt, he added.
Public Works used about 150 tons of salt as of Monday, December 21, and about 50 tons of slag, Brown said.
A mixture of two parts salt and one part slag (small rocks) is used once roadways have been plowed close to the pavement surface, so it is not plowed away, he said.
“We’ve had about 34 people working,” Brown said, adding that they are divided into two shifts that each work for 12 hours.
Three to four employees of Town of Boone Public Utilities have also helped with the snow removal efforts, he said.
Eight plows and one motor grader have been used for the roads, and five tractors, two skid steer loaders and one snowblower have been employed to clear sidewalks, he said.
Two front loaders carted about 20,000 to 25,000 cubic yards of snow to the parking lots at Clawson-Burnley Park and by the softball fields on Hunting Hills Lane.
“We’ve certainly appreciated all the patience of the traveling motorists in Watauga County,” Whittington said, adding that because the snow has been so difficult to move, it has undoubtedly required patience, and “we ask for their continued patience.”
To find out about travel conditions, call 511, the state’s toll-free travel information line, or click to www.ncdot.gov/traffictravel. Brief updates for 16 different routes or regions of the state are available by signing up at www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter.
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