Monday, June 05, 2000
City makes room for more salt
Middletown adds 2 trucks
By Janet C. Wetzel
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MIDDLETOWN — The city should be prepared to handle the worst storms next winter, thanks to new maintenance equipment and two new salt barns, which nearly quadruple the city's salt storage capacity.
An 1,800-ton concrete salt-storage barn being built at the city maintenance garage on Main Street will replace a ramshackle wood en structure that held only 800 tons and was the city's only salt barn for more than 30 years, said Art Baer, city public service administrator.
And a 1,200-ton barn that was added last year at Breiel Boulevard provides extra storage and allows salt crews to restock their trucks without having to make the one-hour round trip across town to the garage, Mr. Baer said.
A heavy storm in the winter of 1999 nearly depleted the city's salt supply. Crews had to mix grit to stretch it, and getting restocked quickly was a concern.
“Now, if we go into a winter with our barns at capacity, we can sustain some pretty serious weather,” Mr. Baer said. “We wouldn't expect to run out of salt again unless we had a real major blizzard or extremely high demand for salt use and conditions that made salt unavailable for restocking.”
City commissioners last year approved the new equipment and barns to help crews keep the city's 230 miles of streets clear of snow and ice, said Preston Combs, public works director.
“We've also added two new vehicles to the fleet and upgraded six others so they can now be used for snow and ice treatment and removal,” Mr. Combs said.
The extra salt barn and new equipment are already paying dividends, he said.
“Last winter we actually had a lot of positive comments from residents,” Mr. Combs said.
The two barns cost $234,000, Mr. Baer said. “And even with the growth in the city and the needs of the future, this should sustain us for at least another 30 years or so,” he said.
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