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Log inIn a pinch over salt
In a pinch over salt
by Outspoken on Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:25 am
In a pinch over salt
Rising prices have municipalities thinking about ways to conserve
By MATT WICKENHEISER
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
An increase in the price of road salt is stinging local snow-removal budgets and forcing some towns to consider cutting back on the amount of salt they spread on local streets this winter.
The state and most towns paid between $50 and $58 a ton last year for road salt. This year, prices range from $68 to $72 a ton. A combination of high shipping costs and demand factor into the increase, which is affecting municipal snow-removal budgets nationwide.
And with wintry weather predicted for Maine as early as Monday, road crews might be in for a long season.
The town of Cumberland had budgeted $55 a ton after paying $52 last year, but the price quickly climbed high, and it is spending $68 a ton, said Town Manager William Shane.
"Right off the bat, we're in the red," he said.
The town goes through about 1,100 tons in an average winter. At $68 a ton, that's $14,300 more than the town had budgeted.
Westbrook has about 500 tons of salt on hand and the city is paying $67.82 a ton, said Thomas Eldridge, director of public services. That's up from $51.91 last year, when Westbrook went through about 1,700 tons of salt and chemical additives.
Westbrook is holding an in-house "snowfighting" course on Thursday for plow drivers, said Eldridge, and one of the lessons will be learning how not to waste salt, given how much it has cost this year.
One tactic is to salt the main roads but cut back on the secondary routes, said Eldridge.
"What they have in the back of the truck, putting down on the road, is pretty expensive stuff," he said.
In Portland, crews will lay down salt on roads at the beginning of a storm, to keep a packed layer from forming, said Steve Earley, operations manager at the city's Department of Public Services.
During the storm, crews will salt intersections and hilly sections of road, said Earley, and then re-salt roads after the storm.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=222782&ac=PHnws
John Patriquin/Staff Photographer
2007 Staff file photo
Rising prices have municipalities thinking about ways to conserve
By MATT WICKENHEISER
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
An increase in the price of road salt is stinging local snow-removal budgets and forcing some towns to consider cutting back on the amount of salt they spread on local streets this winter.
The state and most towns paid between $50 and $58 a ton last year for road salt. This year, prices range from $68 to $72 a ton. A combination of high shipping costs and demand factor into the increase, which is affecting municipal snow-removal budgets nationwide.
And with wintry weather predicted for Maine as early as Monday, road crews might be in for a long season.
The town of Cumberland had budgeted $55 a ton after paying $52 last year, but the price quickly climbed high, and it is spending $68 a ton, said Town Manager William Shane.
"Right off the bat, we're in the red," he said.
The town goes through about 1,100 tons in an average winter. At $68 a ton, that's $14,300 more than the town had budgeted.
Westbrook has about 500 tons of salt on hand and the city is paying $67.82 a ton, said Thomas Eldridge, director of public services. That's up from $51.91 last year, when Westbrook went through about 1,700 tons of salt and chemical additives.
Westbrook is holding an in-house "snowfighting" course on Thursday for plow drivers, said Eldridge, and one of the lessons will be learning how not to waste salt, given how much it has cost this year.
One tactic is to salt the main roads but cut back on the secondary routes, said Eldridge.
"What they have in the back of the truck, putting down on the road, is pretty expensive stuff," he said.
In Portland, crews will lay down salt on roads at the beginning of a storm, to keep a packed layer from forming, said Steve Earley, operations manager at the city's Department of Public Services.
During the storm, crews will salt intersections and hilly sections of road, said Earley, and then re-salt roads after the storm.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=222782&ac=PHnws
John Patriquin/Staff Photographer
2007 Staff file photo
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
