DPW chief credits smooth storm response to road treatment, efforts of town’s workers

Posted

Although last weekend’s first significant snowstorm of the season dropped 7-1/2 inches in Johnston, there were no problems with the town’s roads or public buildings.

One reason, in particular, was because the roads were pre-treated with a special mix that Department of Public Works Director Arnie Vecchione called a “water and salt solution we refer to as brine.”

When Precision Weather, which is the town of Johnston’s official source for any weather-related issues, predicted last weekend’s snowstorm, the DPW swung into action and began pre-treating all town roads last Wednesday.

“We started pre-treating our roads with the brine mixture last Wednesday and continued the process Thursday and Friday,” Vecchione said. “We did the hilly roads first, then the other roads, and by using the brine process, we didn’t have to bring our crews in early.”

It used to be, in fact, that Vecchione would have had to issue a call for all DPW crews to report at noon on Saturday – or in some cases earlier. However, since the town started using the brine mixture to pre-treat the roads, he said snow “doesn’t stick nearly as much as it used, and that makes it easier for our plows to scrape the roads right down to the pavement.”

“Our guys went out at 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon,” he said, “and by 9 a.m. Sunday morning, we were all cleaned up.”

Vecchione said “there were no problems with this snowstorm,” and the DPW “received very few calls from people complaining about the conditions of roads in and around their homes.”

“Our guys are to be commended,” he said. “This was a tough storm. Once the plows cleaned the roads, they were back to those same areas three or four hours later to plow those same roads.”

Once those roads were plowed, DPW trucks salted and sanded all Johnston roads, thus further preventing any would-be problems.

“Snow removal has become like chemistry,” Vecchione said.

“Our mixture is different – one salt, one sand, and we never used to get quick melting of snow like we get now with the brine treatment, and that makes it more efficient.”

Perhaps the single biggest factor in Johnston’s entire snow-plowing process, Vecchione said, is the salt shed the town put up two years ago alongside DPW headquarters at 100 Irons Ave.

“That keeps all our slat and sand dry,” he said. “We have a lot less breakdowns of our vehicles and that [salt shed] was a great investment that Mayor [Joseph] Polisena made.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here