]Park Forest, IL—(ENEWSPF)—Park Forest announced last week that Public Works was preparing for the first snowfall. The snow fell on November 20 and 21, over seven months after a mixture of rain and snow fell on April 3. The PFDPW crews readied for clearing the streets with brine and plows.
During a recent December, I stopped by Public Works to see learn first hand how our DPW plans for snow storms. I got a bonus that afternoon as one crew leader shared with me the workings of a new “brine truck” meant to reduce the use of salt on the roads. The vehicle, with a device fashioned by Public Works, spreads brine on the streets when conditions merit.
Meet Donnie Kloss
Donnie Kloss (pictured above) has been with the Village of Park Forest for almost 14 years. He explained how the department creates a brine mix that can be spread on the streets. Workers use a truck with a unique, homemade setup for the task.
According to Mr. Kloss, the department mixes salt with regular water in a big gray machine. At the time of our conversation, the optimal ratio of water to salt was 23 to 3. DPW techs intended to adjust the ratio for best results.
After mixing the brine, workers employ pumps to store it in 3,000-gallon tanks until the solution is needed.
“From here, we pump it from here into our brine truck,” Mr. Kloss said. The truck “sprays the salt solution on the road,” he said.
Workers saved the Village more than a penny by welding together the setup on the back of a truck to spray the brine.
“This whole system that you see here, minus the tank, we made,” he said. “It’s incredible, right?”
The DPW ordered steel bars. “We measured and cut, welded, painted, everything you see right in there.” Mr. Kloss said. “It cut down on the cost of the whole rack itself.”
“Our guys are pretty incredible,” he said.
The truck holds what is essentially a water tank employed to hold brine. The initial plan was to put the solution down at 25 gallons per lane mile. “We’ll do a certain stretch of road, and we’ll come back, and we’ll see just how many gallons of water we use.”
The truck is ready for storms.
The Science of Using Brine
“With brine, you want to lay it down before the storm on a dry street, per se, so it doesn’t run off. And that keeps us from using more salt out of our plow trucks. It also stops the snow and ice from sticking to the roads. Then, when we come by with the plows, it will plow well.”
Park Forest is an active member of the Chicago Area Waterway Chloride Work Group, an organization that aims to reduce the use of salt (sodium chloride) on roadways.
The key is finding the right moment to lay down the brine. The department must take into account the duration of the storm, the outside temperature, the wind temperature, and the pavement temperature.
“If we get it down too late, it could cause a slime.”
Whether in Ghostbusters or on icy roads, slime sounds bad.
Mr. Kloss said our DPW has spoken with other villages to see what they’ve learned about using brine ahead of storms. Zoom meetings allow for more networking in this post-pandemic era. Some other villages started with 35 gallons of brine per lane mile, he said when we spoke. So DPW decided to begin on the conservative end laying down 25 gallons of brine per lane mile at 20 miles per hour.
“Even the speed comes into consideration,” he said.
The truck routes are complex but organized. “We plow in tandem,” Mr. Kloss said. There are two main drag routes initially, he said. “Three trucks go one way. One truck stays downtown, and the other three go another route. They drive an hour, maybe an hour and a half, and then give them a break. Come in, get coffee, then go out and do the side streets.”
What next? “We do the same thing until the storm’s over,” Kloss said.
Safety is critical, of course, for drivers who keep working through storms, easily pulling shifts of 24 hourse or more.
“Safety is the number one priority,” he said. “Not just for us, but for the Village, holiday travelers, Fire, EMS, the police, everyone.”
“And you leaving here,” he added. “I want everyone to be safe. That’s our number one goal.”
Safety for all on Park Forest’s 72 miles of roadways.
Before I left Public Works that day, I saw some drivers who had stopped in for a precious coffee break. I acknowledged the time they would likely put in as the storm was still ongoing. They would have to remain at work through the duration.
“Do you guys get to sleep?” I asked.
“Only when we drive,” one gent quipped.
Are you wondering when the plows will make it to your street when the next snowfall occurs? There is a plan. Check out this page on the Village website to learn more:
