Weather straining city's salt, monetary, employee resources / LJWorld.com

Archive for Thursday, January 31, 2008

By Chad Lawhorn

January 31, 2008

City salt supply dwindles

As the snow falls, salt supplies continue to dwindle in the city's street maintenance department. Enlarge video

Forecast

Friday's weather forecast Enlarge video

As it gets icier, it may get dicier for Lawrence motorists.

The city's road salt supplies are starting to run low as the city braces for another round of winter storms.

"Normally we use 2,000 to 2,500 tons of salt for an entire season," said Tom Orzulak, the city's Street Division manager. "We've already used 2,500 tons. We're down to our last 500 tons."

That's "more than enough" to handle the storm that was expected to hit the region this morning, Orzulak said. But after that, the city will be in need of a delivery from its Hutchinson-based supplier. Orzulak said another shipment of salt is expected to arrive in Lawrence next week, but high demand for the ice-melting mineral has left lingering questions.

"Thus far, it has worked out to be just-in-time delivery," Orzulak said. "I'm hoping it continues that way."

County crews also are prepared for the snowfall, said Keith Browning, the county's director of public works. Browning said he was cautiously optimistic that salt supplies would remain uninterrupted.

Chuck Soules, the city's director of public works, said cities all across the Midwest are in the same situation as Lawrence. That high demand - plus storms that knocked power out at some salt mines - have caused a backlog in salt production.

"We obviously have ordered more, but everybody else has ordered more, too," Soules said. "We are a ways down the line, and we've been told there are no guarantees."

Salt supplies aren't all that's depleted in the city's snow plowing operations. Energy levels of the city's crews also have taken a hit.

"December was really long for them," Soules said. "But they're great. They understand that it is part of their role and that we all appreciate their efforts."

Soules' office recently released numbers showing that the city spent $325,657 on snow clearing operations in December, which produced 17 inches of snow for the city. Among the other totals:

l City crews worked 6,222.5 hours, including 3,159 hours of overtime, during the month.

l Crews spread 4,080 tons of a sand and salt mixture on city streets.

l Employees in the city's Street Division worked all but three days during the month of December.

"Everybody here is ready for spring," Orzulak said.

Orzulak said city crews have worked about a dozen snow or ice events this winter. That's the amount they normally would expect to work for an entire season.

"If it quit right now, it would be about an average year," Soules said. "But we realize we still have at least another 30 days to get through. December is usually not your biggest month."

Discussion

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31 January 2008
at 8:08 a.m.

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Ragingbear (Anonymous) says…

Who would have thunk that there would be actual snow falling during the winter?
31 January 2008
at 9:43 a.m.

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Kontum1972 (Anonymous) says…

Salt R US..mb
31 January 2008
at 10:40 a.m.

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ukillaJJ (Anonymous) says…

This is funny, about a month ago there was an LJWorld article…

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/dec…

…bragging about how the City of Lawrence has stockpiles of extra salt and sand, and that they were prepared for anything. Way to think ahead!!!
31 January 2008
at 10:47 a.m.

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Compy (Anonymous) says…

Yeah, what happenned to the stockpiles??…………….Maybe they should hire some guys that can do some math……this shouldnt be such a precarious situation……weather is not THAT variable…..how long have they been at this?
31 January 2008
at 10:49 a.m.

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Compy (Anonymous) says…

oh, and if theyre getting real tired, they should just stick it out until summer, when they can neglect all the weeds in city parks like theyve been planning to do. Hey, if I had huge riding mowers, I wouldnt want to get off my fat butt either.
31 January 2008
at 11:15 a.m.

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kubacker (Anonymous) says…

Thanks Tom for knocking 5 years off the life of my car's body!
31 January 2008
at 12:30 p.m.

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kneejerkreaction (Anonymous) says…

Salt shortage in Lawrence? I'm stopping by Hy-Vee tonight and stocking up.

31 January 2008
at 12:52 p.m.

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Gonzo308 (Anonymous) says…

What salt? Since moving to Lawrence, I just pray each time I drive in the snow- since nothing else is being done about it.

I've seen no evidence of plows or salt for the first 24 hours of each big snow we've had so far this season. I don't know how we could have used so much by this time.
31 January 2008
at 1:24 p.m.

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kneejerkreaction (Anonymous) says…

Gonzo308 (Anonymous) says:
I've seen no evidence of plows or salt for the first 24 hours of each big snow we've had so far this season. I don't know how we could have used so much by this time.
*******
Gonzo308, you obviously haven't stopped by the City Plants to see the huge pots of salted water into which they throw their spaghetti.
31 January 2008
at 7:25 p.m.

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ibroke (Anonymous) says…

well this has been a mild winter as per ljw not!