The rising cost of road salt ¡ª and a desire to do a thorough job of clearing streets of snow and ice ¡ª has road officials turning away from the old-fashioned dump truck method of spreading salt.
Instead, some road officials are putting their hopes for safe streets and their plans for saving salt and money on a machine called EPOKE, a snow and ice removal system from Denmark that requires less salt than traditional methods.
And there is a chance of snow showers today, according to the National Weather Service in White Lake Township. No accumulation is expected.
After the snowy winter of 2007-08, when some cities and counties ran out of road salt, the minds of city, county and state officials are on conserving salt, which has increased in price, even as they order more of it.
The price of road salt has increased from an average of about $20-$30 per ton last year to $30-$40-plus per ton this year. With salt being purchased by the tens of thousands of tons, the expense to taxpayers is mountainous.
EPOKE is being tried for the first time this winter in St. Clair Shores, Sterling Heights and Bay City. And after trying it out the last few years, Detroit expects to purchase EPOKE systems for this winter season.
¡°It's not a cure-all, but we do expect to save salt, to eliminate people being called in, to stop the ice and snow buildup,¡± said Curt Dumas, director of public works for the City of St. Clair Shores. ¡°We're expecting a one-third savings.¡±
EPOKE, a Danish acronym that loosely translates to ¡°epoch,¡± is an attachment for dump trucks that grinds salt into a powdery consistency and mixes it with a brine solution as the truck rolls down the road.
The mixture becomes a paste-like substance that's deposited on the road surface, which has been treated earlier with a brine solution alone, allowing it to catch the salt-brine mixture and hold it to the road.
The theory behind EPOKE, besides creating a bonding substance for the road surface, is that it prevents salt waste by keeping it from bouncing from the truck and from being scattered by passing vehicles.
There are other companies that make similar systems, and some areas have chosen those.
EPOKE is seen as too costly and also problematic because it has a smaller salt capacity, Road Commission for Oakland County spokesman Craig Bryson said. Instead, Oakland County draws its brine from wells and applies it to the street prior to spreading salt.
However, in Macomb County, where two more EPOKE systems were purchased earlier this month, and in Dearborn and Romulus, all of which have used EPOKE for about three years, the new technology is seen as superior.
Dearborn, one of the first Michigan municipalities to use the attachments, is starting to see a savings, said Larry Szczygiel, the city's superintendent of highways.
¡°We probably use 40% less salt, and with the price of salt going up, that's a lot of money,¡± he said. ¡°And residents aren't upset with us for spreading salt on their lawns. ¡ Our roads are in better shape.¡±
Before EPOKE, last year's record snow amount would have taken about 16,000 tons of salt, he said. With EPOKE, it was 8,500 tons. Dearborn's success has made the city a destination for road officials considering buying EPOKE. ¡°People from all over Michigan and Canada are coming to us to take a look at it,¡± Szczygiel said.
While the equipment can bring a hefty price tag, starting at $120,000 per system, city planners say the savings in salt and staffing will make up for the up-front cost.
The City of Detroit tested EPOKE in 2004 and last year and is hoping to purchase some systems this year.
¡°I recognized the benefits of it right away, but we weren't in a position to make the purchase,¡± Alfred Jordan, Detroit's director of public works, said.
EPOKE has been widely used in Europe and other parts of the world for more than 30 years, said Dan Rouleau, vice president of EPOKE North America, which is based in Ottawa.
¡°It's not that Europeans are more clever than we are. They're driven to look at how they control snow because they have a lot of people in a small place, and they can't be wasteful,¡± Rouleau said.
EPOKE and road treatment systems like it also have been used for decades at U.S. airports, which can't apply corrosive salt on runways. Cities, on the other hand, began trying it out more recently.
¡°What's happened here is the price of salt didn't matter much before. Now they're paying attention to the cost of the salt and also the cost to the environment,¡± Rouleau said.
Still, the capital investment for cities, especially during strained economic times, can be difficult.
¡°It takes a progressive city, a progressive road superintendent, a progressive council, a progressive mayor to say, ¡®OK let's look at this,' ¡± Rouleau said. ¡°They have to focus on the long-term savings, not the initial cost.¡±
Instead, some road officials are putting their hopes for safe streets and their plans for saving salt and money on a machine called EPOKE, a snow and ice removal system from Denmark that requires less salt than traditional methods.
And there is a chance of snow showers today, according to the National Weather Service in White Lake Township. No accumulation is expected.
After the snowy winter of 2007-08, when some cities and counties ran out of road salt, the minds of city, county and state officials are on conserving salt, which has increased in price, even as they order more of it.
The price of road salt has increased from an average of about $20-$30 per ton last year to $30-$40-plus per ton this year. With salt being purchased by the tens of thousands of tons, the expense to taxpayers is mountainous.
EPOKE is being tried for the first time this winter in St. Clair Shores, Sterling Heights and Bay City. And after trying it out the last few years, Detroit expects to purchase EPOKE systems for this winter season.
¡°It's not a cure-all, but we do expect to save salt, to eliminate people being called in, to stop the ice and snow buildup,¡± said Curt Dumas, director of public works for the City of St. Clair Shores. ¡°We're expecting a one-third savings.¡±
EPOKE, a Danish acronym that loosely translates to ¡°epoch,¡± is an attachment for dump trucks that grinds salt into a powdery consistency and mixes it with a brine solution as the truck rolls down the road.
The mixture becomes a paste-like substance that's deposited on the road surface, which has been treated earlier with a brine solution alone, allowing it to catch the salt-brine mixture and hold it to the road.
The theory behind EPOKE, besides creating a bonding substance for the road surface, is that it prevents salt waste by keeping it from bouncing from the truck and from being scattered by passing vehicles.
There are other companies that make similar systems, and some areas have chosen those.
EPOKE is seen as too costly and also problematic because it has a smaller salt capacity, Road Commission for Oakland County spokesman Craig Bryson said. Instead, Oakland County draws its brine from wells and applies it to the street prior to spreading salt.
However, in Macomb County, where two more EPOKE systems were purchased earlier this month, and in Dearborn and Romulus, all of which have used EPOKE for about three years, the new technology is seen as superior.
Dearborn, one of the first Michigan municipalities to use the attachments, is starting to see a savings, said Larry Szczygiel, the city's superintendent of highways.
¡°We probably use 40% less salt, and with the price of salt going up, that's a lot of money,¡± he said. ¡°And residents aren't upset with us for spreading salt on their lawns. ¡ Our roads are in better shape.¡±
Before EPOKE, last year's record snow amount would have taken about 16,000 tons of salt, he said. With EPOKE, it was 8,500 tons. Dearborn's success has made the city a destination for road officials considering buying EPOKE. ¡°People from all over Michigan and Canada are coming to us to take a look at it,¡± Szczygiel said.
While the equipment can bring a hefty price tag, starting at $120,000 per system, city planners say the savings in salt and staffing will make up for the up-front cost.
The City of Detroit tested EPOKE in 2004 and last year and is hoping to purchase some systems this year.
¡°I recognized the benefits of it right away, but we weren't in a position to make the purchase,¡± Alfred Jordan, Detroit's director of public works, said.
EPOKE has been widely used in Europe and other parts of the world for more than 30 years, said Dan Rouleau, vice president of EPOKE North America, which is based in Ottawa.
¡°It's not that Europeans are more clever than we are. They're driven to look at how they control snow because they have a lot of people in a small place, and they can't be wasteful,¡± Rouleau said.
EPOKE and road treatment systems like it also have been used for decades at U.S. airports, which can't apply corrosive salt on runways. Cities, on the other hand, began trying it out more recently.
¡°What's happened here is the price of salt didn't matter much before. Now they're paying attention to the cost of the salt and also the cost to the environment,¡± Rouleau said.
Still, the capital investment for cities, especially during strained economic times, can be difficult.
¡°It takes a progressive city, a progressive road superintendent, a progressive council, a progressive mayor to say, ¡®OK let's look at this,' ¡± Rouleau said. ¡°They have to focus on the long-term savings, not the initial cost.¡±
