Iowa cities stock up on road salt

After salt supplies ran short last winter, Iowa?s state and local governments are stocking up this fall to avoid misery on highways and city streets.

Two factors played a big role in this year?s buying spree. The price of salt fell dramatically from January to June, along with salt sales, and the construction of a storage facility in Grimes will allow nine Des Moines-area cities to buy salt early and avoid peak-demand costs.

Last year, shortages forced state workers to ration and shift supplies to meet demand, and state workers couldn?t get salt delivered to nearly a third of the state?s 110 highway garages.

?We will be able to change our philosophy a little bit this year,? said West Des Moines Public Works Director Bret Hodne. ?Instead of having to cut service levels, we will be able to provide the level of service that we want to the motoring public.?

In Des Moines, the public works department will allow snowplows to use more salt instead of sand, which doesn?t melt ice and clogs sewers.

Last year, some communities resorted to alternatives, such as beet juice and wood chips, but Fairfield Public Works Superintendent Darrel Bisgard said that won?t happen here.

?We should be ready to go,? he said.

Fairfield has 325 tons of salt on order through the Iowa Department of Transportation and 50 tons already on hand. Additionally, the city has 75 tons of salt and sand mix ready to go.

Bisgard said Fairfield had 250 tons ordered at the beginning of last winter, and the city was able to purchase more through the local IDOT because maintenance of Burlington Avenue was transferred to the city after the salt had been ordered. Fairfield made it through the winter without running out, he said.

Jefferson County Engineer Tom Goff reported the county has 300 tons of salt ordered for the coming winter.

Last year, national demand for salt skyrocketed, and winter didn?t disappoint with strong snowfalls in November and December.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this article.

For the complete article, see the Friday, September 11, 2009, printed edition of The Fairfield Ledger.