NJDOT readies for winter just in time

Less than 24 hours after NJDOT announced its winter preparedness effort, the Department’s equipment and crews were coating the roadways with cost effective and environmentally friendly pre-treated salt and brine, readying for the first state-wide winter storm of the year on December 2.

A NJDOT driver moves salt into a storage dome.

North, Central and South Region and Headquarters crews tapped the salt and liquid calcium inventories, and equipped the trucks with spreaders to keep the state’s 15,829 lane miles of interstates and state highways safe.

According to the weather reports, New Jersey’s total accumulations were 1 – 3 inches of snow, south to north, followed by sleet and freezing rain. The heaviest snow fall was in the North Region where NJDOT deployed 33 crews and sub-crews from 1 a.m. Sunday until 7:30 a.m. Monday to keep the roads clear. They encountered frozen bridge decks, which are colder than road surfaces. They also encountered diluted salt concentrations in the North and Central regions, when the snow turned to sleet and later to rain.

Statewide, 633 of the total 830 regular maintenance staff members, including 167 of 680 trained volunteers, operated 388 of the 540 trucks during the storm. In addition, NJDOT supplemented the crews with 69 contractor spreaders and three rented loaders.

NJDOT began the season with approximately 130,438 tons of salt and 466,156 gallons of liquid calcium. For this one snow event, we used 11,220 tons of salt, 2,170 tons of pre-treated salt and 36,765 gallons of liquid calcium.

The December 2 storm cost approximately $1.6 million, which includes materials, overtime and contractors. With a $10.6 budget for winter 2007-2008 and additional available emergency funds if the Department exhausts its initial allocation, motorists should know that they will have the backing of our equipment, crews, weather monitoring stations and partner agencies.