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Friday, January 24, 2003

By Joe Grata, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Most of the region has seen as much snow at this point in the season -- about 26 inches -- as all of last winter.

So it may not come as a surprise that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has already used about as much road salt as it did last year.

"We're about even, with two months still to go," said Andy Kost, maintenance engineer for District 11, which has already dropped about 25,000 tons of salt just in Allegheny County, the same as through March 2002. "Our budget is $9.5 million. We won't have a surplus this winter. No way."

Besides the snow, thermometers haven't exceeded the freezing mark for much of the month.

"The extra-cold temperatures have made things tough for the last couple of weeks," Kost said. "Salt isn't as effective in this kind of weather," so PennDOT has been mixing salt with anti-skid materials such as sand and cinders to provide traction.

PennDOT presently has about 12,000 tons of road salt on hand at 16 different sites in Allegheny County. Another 20,000 tons are on order.

PennDOT District 12, covering Westmoreland, Washington, Fayette and Greene counties, had 40,000 tons of road salt available as of Jan. 15 for 3,691 miles of state-maintained roads and bridges under its jurisdiction.

"Not a problem," spokeswoman Valerie Petersen said. "If we need more salt, our suppliers told us we'll be able to get it."

The Port Authority uses salt, too -- at busways, garages, stations and park-n-ride lots -- but keeping vehicles comfortably warm requires special attention when temperatures dip so low, spokeswoman Judi McNeil said.

Parking light-rail vehicles in the "standby" mode overnight at the South Hills maintenance facility could damage sensitive high-tech components, so transit workers go out and turn on the heat 45 minutes before cars are to go into service.

Most authority garages are partly heated and big enough to accommodate most buses except at Harmar, where they're parked outdoors. Authority workers start the engines every hour and run them for 15 minutes on cold nights.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike has used 75 percent of the road salt stockpiled at its maintenance sheds, where supplies are constantly being replenished. Spokesman Carl DeFebo said the turnpike has already spent all but $1 million of its $3.5 million winter budget.

The toll road is prepared for the worst. Turnpike officials have 8,000 tons of road salt squirreled away in two new salt storage structures in the Allegheny Mountain snowbelt.

"That's an emergency supply," DeFebo said. "We haven't had to dip into it."

Probably the biggest supply of road salt is stockpiled along the Monongahela River in West Elizabeth, where it is shipped by barge by suppliers who mine Louisiana salt domes. Between two companies, Cargill and North American Salt, more than 200,000 tons form a small mountain behind Fifth Street. The city of Pittsburgh and several municipalities send trucks there to buy from the handler, M.M. Schaefer-Clairton Slag Co.

"During peak periods, we're loading up to 5,000 tons a day," Bob Schaefer said. "We can handle double that amount."

Another supplier, New York-based American Rock Salt, is trying to bring salt into the area to meet the demand, said Don Holman, vice president of marketing.

He said the company planned for a normal winter by stockpiling about 180,000 tons at its facilities in Belle Vernon and Freeport.

"Customers have used close to or in excess of their winter estimates of salt," Holman said. "And nobody knows what the weather will be from here on out."