Page 6 - Mar-Apr24 Vol 41 No 7

KNOXVILLE By Chad Weth
“We Have Salt and We Have a Plan”

March 12, 2023 – I remember sitting I always want to know what our entire Monday the 15th: Preparing over the
in my living room watching all the local team thinks before decisions are made. Be- weekend through many texts, we brought
news channels reminisce about the 30- fore we left for the day on Friday, spreaders our essential crews in at 1 a.m. for what
year anniversary of the famous “Blizzard and brine tanks were mounted, plows were was predicted to be a 2-5" storm. It was
of ‘93”. That storm brought 15+ inches of installed, all the supplies and materials the Martin Luther King Holiday, which
snow to the Knoxville area and essentially were in stock; and we were ready! may have been the only gift we got from
shut down the city for over a week. Sunday, January 14, 2024: A decision this storm. Many businesses and schools
Fortunately, I was 17 years old for that was made to brine all our level I and II were closed.
storm and like most school-aged kids, I streets that day. Pre-treating roads in The storm started slowly. At 7:30 a.m.,
loved every minute of it. In the comfort good weather, low traffic, and sunshine is while snow had begun, it had not yet
of my living room, I vividly remember definitely the calm before the storm. It is made an impact. My guess is most people
looking at my wife and saying “I hope very useful and very cost efficient. We use would have gone to work. What a mess it
I don’t ever have to work a storm like about 55 tons of salt to mix enough brine would have been that afternoon!
that.” Fast-forward 309 days later… for all of our level I and II streets. But at this point, the pre-treatment
When people ask me about the City of Compare this to about 400 tons of appeared to be doing its job. The weather
Knoxville and snow, my funny response is salt for traditional salting methods (our was 30 degrees. Everything was typical!
always “We have salt and we have a plan”! current salt price is $122/ton) and you can 11:00 a.m.: The brine started showing
And while that is a very simplified version see the difference. Salt brine works great some vulnerability and the decision was
of what really happens during a snow- for about the first inch of snow, but it made to deploy salt/spreader trucks. The
storm, it is factual. I have had the pleasure definitely has its limitations. This also was thought was the window was small. We
and enjoyment of overseeing road crews about the first time in four years we have knew the temperatures were expected to
for snow events for 15 years; the key word been able to brine. plummet the next day, which always caus-
in that concise yet accurate statement is In East Tennessee and primarily in es challenges with snow treatment.
“we.” the South, it is not uncommon for good Our goal was to get things in order
We have a great, intelligent team, many soaking rain before the cold weather kicks while the temperatures are “warm” (above
of whom have been doing this even in and transitions to snow. Rain washes 25 degrees). We thought maybe six to
longer than my 15 years. Storm response off the brine, so it takes the right kind of seven hours of snow, get it all cleared up,
is always a total team effort. That is why storm to utilize salt brine. This was one tie up loose ends the next day and the
snow preparations for this storm began on of those storms. After about ten hours of storm would be done. After all, that is how
Friday, January 12 with a meeting of our uneventfully pre-treating the roads, these typical Knoxville snowstorms work and
managers. crews went home. how it has been in the past.

6 TPW March/April 2024