By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A gull passes the Steamboat Marina in New Richmond Thursday afternoon. The far side of the marina became hung up on a piling as the waters of the Ohio River rose this week and is now listing because of the receding water. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

Winter weary Tristate road crews expected to handle Thursday night's predicted 1-to-3-inch snowfall by mixing dwindling salt supplies with sand.

But with the Ohio River and its tributaries receding, deliveries of road salt are expected to continue without interruption.

"At this point, we have 29 salt barges unloading through next week,'' said Rick Rainey, spokesman for Houston-based Kinder/Morgan Partners.

Forecasts call for the Ohio and Licking rivers to gradually fall throughout the week, said Jeffrey Sites, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

So far, this winter's snowfall has totaled 32.6 inches, including 17 inches in February. The average Tristate winter snowfall is 24 inches. That's forced many communities to double their salt use this year.

"The good news is we are continuing to receive deliveries,'' said Karl Graham, assistant superintendent for the Cincinnati Department of Public Services.

Butler County has about 800 tons of salt in its salt barn and another 1,500 tons on order, said Chris Petrocy, spokesman for the county engineer's office.

Warren County officials hope that the 500 tons of salt on hand will last them through the rest of this unusually snowy winter.

"Prior to Feb. 14, we'd been using straight salt,'' said Kurt Weber, assistant county engineer for the Warren County Engineer's Office. "We went to a 2- to-1 mix (two parts sand to one part salt) during the storm that hit Feb. 14-17. With the snows we've gotten since then, we've gone to a 3-to-1 mix.''

For most riverfront businesses, it's been business as usual.

"Covington Landing is open for business,'' Covington City Engineer Terry Hughes said Thursday.

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com