For years, Chris Hendricks drove daily from his home in Searcy to his job as Facilities Maintenance Manager at Dassault Falcon Jet LLC in Little Rock and back. It’s usually an hour’s drive one way, but one of his wintery return trips proved much longer. Hendricks remembered, “I was stuck on Interstate 440 where it merges onto 67/167, we call it the Beanfield, and there were several vehicles in front of me.”

A sheet of ice covered the road, and because of this, Hendricks said an Arkansas State Trooper had the road blocked to allow an Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) truck to apply salt brine to the road’s surface. Hendricks was driving a four-wheel drive truck but noted that it was useless on ice. It was so slick; he recalled, “There was a little grade to the offramp, causing the officer on foot to slide across the highway for about 20 feet.”

Hendricks said, “A salt truck would spray in front of a single vehicle. It would melt the area before it, and then the officer would let that one driver through.” It was an extremely slow go. “I got excited when they got to me, but the truck ran out of salt. There was not another truck available, so I had to wait about an hour and a half until the truck returned, picked up more salt, and returned,” he said.

Fortunately, Hendricks had plenty of gas and patience, because it took nearly three hours to arrive home that night.

Shifting Gears

In early December 2013, ARDOT took a hit for its response to a winter storm that blanketed much of Arkansas’s roads with freezing rain, sleet, and snow.

Traffic movement was complex, even impossible in some regions, and the winter storm left highway department crews working around the clock. ARDOT received many phone calls from state residents, elected officials, and the media.

This single event prompted a major revamp in the ARDOT strategy to prepare for winter weather. People like Chris Hendricks have noticed, “We do a lot of snow clearing where I work at Falcon Jet.” He noted that there have been several “pretty good snows” in recent memory, but added, “In the last few years, the highway department has done a much better job of keeping the roads clear, and I don’t see the same number of weather delays as in the past.”

From Salt Brine to AI

In a recent conversation, Deric Wyatt, ARDOT State Maintenance Engineer, discussed the process and procedures his department follows before the start of the winter storm season. He described most predicted storms as a “wait-and-see game,” adding, “We are as proactive as possible and get equipment and staff in place where they will be needed.”

AGRF: What are the key steps ARDOT takes to prepare for winter weather each season?

DW: Each fall, the maintenance crews conduct winter weather preparedness drills. These drills allow us to train new operators by driving assigned winter weather routes, conducting snowplow simulator training, installing plows and spreaders for test operations, calibrating spreaders and brine tankers for proper material application rates, reviewing priority routes, testing the ARDOT radio network, and reporting winter weather route conditions for IDriveArkansas.

We advertise bids to refill our salt storage facilities during the summer months, well before the winter weather season starts. Before the cold weather arrives, they are at 100 percent capacity for the upcoming winter season.

AGRF: What technology does ARDOT use to monitor and respond to road conditions before or during winter storms?

DW: ARDOT uses several forms of technology to assist with our planning and response to wintry precipitation. We subscribe to a weather forecasting service, DTN, which provides customized road weather forecasts, and we also utilize the National Weather Service and local TV stations.

We use a Road Weather Information System (RWIS) comprised of Weather Sensor Stations mounted on around 36 bridge structures across the state and 10 Mobile Weather Sensors (MARWIS) truck-mounted and operated by the District Staff. These weather stations report air temperature, pavement temperature, and the presence of liquid or frozen moisture on bridge decks and pavement.

Technology also plays a more significant role in our operations. It documents our activities and provides real-time data and feedback to make needed changes timelier, keeping traffic moving and clearing our roadways as quickly as possible.

AGRF: How does ARDOT coordinate with local agencies and municipalities during winter storms?

DW: Our Traffic Management Center (TMC) works closely with Arkansas Highway Police and Arkansas State Police (ASP) to respond to interstate traffic issues. ARDOT Districts work closely with the local ASP Troop Headquarters, local agencies, and municipalities during winter weather events to keep traffic moving on the primary highways and maintain access to emergency services and hospitals. We work to maintain these relationships and points of contact throughout the year.

AGRF: How does ARDOT communicate road conditions and closures to the public during winter storms?

DW: The ARDOT Maintenance Staff reports road conditions to the public through our winter weather map layer on IDriveArkansas. The road conditions are updated every two hours until the route is reported as clear. We also provide nearly 400 live traffic cameras across the state through IDriveArkansas, which the public can use to see current road conditions.

AGRF: What advice do you have for motorists to stay safe during winter weather?

DW: If you must get out during a winter weather event, plan additional time for your trip and drive at an appropriate speed for the road conditions. One of our biggest requests is that drivers give our equipment operators plenty of space to clear the roadways and apply deicing materials before and during a winter storm.

AGRF: What are the procedures for applying salt and other de-icing materials on roads?

DW: We monitor the weather forecasts closely to determine the type of material to be applied as a pre-treatment, the application rate, and the timing for placement before a winter weather event. Pretreatment is like spraying PAM on a frying pan and helps prevent snow/ice from bonding to the pavement.

However, if it begins as rain and transitions to snow or ice, this limits the effectiveness of pretreating with salt brine as it washes it off the roadway. If an event starts as rain, we monitor the pavement temperatures. We pretreat the surface with rock salt just as the pavement temperatures begin to reach the freezing point.

During a winter weather event, the type and intensity of precipitation and air temperatures determine the material application rate used.

AGRF: How much salt does ARDOT stockpile for winter weather, and where is it stored?

DW: ARDOT stores approximately 75,000 cubic yards (CUYD) of salt at barns across the state.

Each district has a fiscal year operating budget; for example, the state’s northern districts typically use more salt than the rest. However, statewide, we spend approximately $10 million yearly for the needed pretreatment and deicing products. As de-icing material costs continue to increase, we are always looking for more efficient and effective ways to use more liquids for de-icing during and after an event.

AGRF: How many snowplows does ARDOT currently operate, and how are they maintained?

DW: ARDOT has approximately 600 snowplows at our County Maintenance Headquarters and District Offices. These are stored in the maintenance yards for nine months out of the year. In the fall, crews test the electrical connections, hydraulics, and lights and determine the plow’s remaining blade life. At the end of the winter season, these are cleaned to remove residual salt, painted when needed to minimize rust, lubricated, and stored for the next winter season.

AGRF: What are some of the biggest challenges ARDOT faces during severe winter weather events?

DW: The length and severity of a winter weather event are typically our biggest challenges. If an event continues for several days, we often experience equipment breakdowns, and staff begin to tire after two to three days of 12-hour shifts.

When one event is followed by subsequent events within a short timeframe, it limits the time we have to repair equipment and replenish material stockpiles. In recent years, several Arctic blasts have brought with them frigid temperatures at or below zero degrees. Sub Zero-degree temperatures at night significantly reduce the effectiveness of our deicing materials, which results in snow and ice bonding to the pavement.

Often, we have to wait for a bit of sunshine to help with the melting process to resume our clearing operations.

Frigid temperatures and frozen precipitation that bond to the road’s surface often accelerate the wear and tear on our equipment and damage the pavement.

AGRF: What steps are taken after the storm?

DW: Every winter weather event is different from previous events in some way. So, we conduct after- action reviews to discuss what worked well and what didn’t so that we can make the necessary adjustments for the next event.

Over the past few years, we have invested in more snow and ice equipment and material storage capacity to help us clear roadways faster and reduce impacts on the traveling public. We have also participated in peer exchanges with the neighboring states that deal with winter weather more often than we do to learn what works best for them to keep roadways clear that we can implement in Arkansas.

The next time you slowly navigate an icy patch of road on a cold February morning, remember that the planning to keep you safe on that drive was underway the previous July.