Road foreman Tim Farris is shown here with the brine truck, a tank that holds a water and salt solution that will keep ice from forming down to about 10 degrees below zero. These were the extreme temperatures the county experienced just prior to Christmas.
by Clarke Davis
Ben Domann watches the weather forecasts. If there’s even a blip of winter weather headed this way, he’s paying attention.
Part of his job as Jefferson County Public Works Director is overseeing the road and bridge department. Serving a population of commuters in the wintertime keeps him glued to the forecasts.
Jefferson County is well laced with state highways, but most residents have to travel both gravel and paved county roads to get to them.
If bad weather is on the horizon the county road crew is put on notice, and the day before the expected event all other work stops. The staff spends the day preparing for the storm.
Eight trucks — one for each of the eight districts — will be equipped with sanders and fueled. The diesel fuel is winterized, but an extra additive is called for when temperatures get extreme. The eight road graders are equipped with snow plows.
A liquid brine of salt and water is used to pretreat the 155 miles of asphalt.
“We treat the steep hills, curves, bridges, and intersections in advance,” Domann said. “This works pretty good unless it’s followed by a hard rain, then our effort is washed away.”
Domann seeks help from the road superintendent, Phil Hoffman, and two foremen, Tim Farris and Ron Weishaar, in deciding when to begin treating or unblocking roads.
“We might be out looking at the situation at 4 in the morning, trying to decide how best to tackle it,” Domann said. “We start just as early as we can, but if strong winds are blowing light powdery snow there’s not much we can do until the storm is over.”
This year Domann’s crew was able to enjoy their New Year’s holidays, which was not the case the past two years.
“Our crews were out working the previous two New Year’s,” he said.
Normal work for the road crew this time of year is road maintenance, tree and brush clearing, and stockpiling rock.
“We have about all of the road rock for 2023 already stockpiled, along with 8,000 tons of chips used to chip and seal roads,” he said.
About one-third of the county’s asphalt roads are chip and sealed each year.
Asked if the warm, open-road winters are easier on the county’s budget, Domann said the budgets are squeezed by the continuing escalating costs of what is purchased.
“We use less, but pay more,” he said.
Domann’s department does maintain a short list of emergency residences that they are aware of during extreme weather.
“These are people with fragile health conditions. We also will work with the ambulance service in an attempt to get them somewhere if roads are blocked,” he said.
Domann encourages people who have appointments at medical facilities or expectant mothers about to deliver to plan early and stay with relatives or hotels. Even if the county can break through
a snow drift to help, it’s no guarantee they can safely navigate state highways to get where they need to be, he said.
The road department is also equipped with a couple of pickups that have snow blades to clean parking lots and areas around county facilities, such as the sheriff’s department and health clinic.
“Auxiliary services uses an ATV to pretreat the sidewalks around the courthouse with a salt brine to keep them clear of ice for the public,” he said.