A Hutchinson Salt Co. miner moves salt and rocks near the face of the salt mine Friday, Oct. 24, in Hutchinson.

State highway officials are hoping for warm, clear and uneventful weather conditions through Halloween, as a fearful few weeks for salt supplies comes to an end.

The department is still awaiting deliveries of tons of rock salt, the prime material for helping clear ice and snow from state highways, spokeswoman Kim Stitch said Tuesday. At least the weather forecast appears to be cooperating.

“We expect to have our salt domes full by the first week of November,” Stitch said. “We just didn’t get them filled as quickly as we did in years past.”

The state is no small consumer of rock salt. During the past fiscal year, the department used 143,705 tons of the material, up 35 percent from the annual average of 106,598 tons used during the past five years.

Driving demand: Two usually harsh winters, which strained salt supplies for the state and other road departments in Kansas – and throughout the Midwest.

“It’s a limited resource and everyone is trying to stock up on salt,” said Peter Carttar, the department’s assistant bureau chief for construction and maintenance. “KDOT will need to be conservative with salt use so that materials are available throughout the winter.”

Hutchinson Salt Co., in Hutchinson, is working to keep up with demand by boosting the hours its employees spend harvesting salt 645 feet below ground, said Max Liby, mine manager.

“We’re at capacity right now,” said Liby, during a tour of the mine last week. “We have extended our work week and we’re trying to get some surplus built back up, but we haven’t been able to do so so far.

“There’s just a lot more demand, and everybody got an awakening last winter.”

Hutchinson Salt is one of three major suppliers for the state’s department of transportation. The others are Independent Salt Co., in Kanopolis; and a plant in Lyons that provides products through Cargill.