The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department crews treated roads Thursday in advance of a forecast calling for snow.
The National Weather Service predicted about one-and-a-half inches of snow to fall in Pine Bluff through today. The weather service predicted a high temperature of 27 degrees today and a low temperature of 16 degrees on Saturday morning.
Pine Bluff Street Department Director Rick Rhoden said his department plans to use two salt trucks to prevent icing, and it if snows, two plows at all times.
“We’ve got plenty of calcium and abrasive, which is similar to sand,” Rhoden said. “We mix them to melt the ice. We have somebody who will be on call tonight to monitor the weather. As soon as the inclement weather shows up, we will be there on top of it.
“We are preparing for snow. If it is ice, we will use calcium on the bridges. We put salt to melt it.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Rhoden estimates his department began this winter with close to 60 tons of calcium and at least 180 tons of abrasive industrial sand.
“You mix those two substances together,” Rhoden said. “You will get good traction.”
He added: “We would have to run our trucks for one week before I get worried. If we run low on abrasive, we switch to regular sand. They are in our shop in Pine Bluff.”
Despite their preparations, Rhoden said he hopes the storm misses Jefferson County.
Tim Kelly is the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department district maintenance engineer. He said his employees were absolutely making preparations Thursday afternoon by applying a brine solution to roads.
“It is a pre-treatment that ensures the snow and ice does not bond with the road surface,” Kelly said. “Our second crew will come in at 5 p.m. Thursday. We have seven plows running on Interstate 530 and another six plows in Jefferson County.
“We made sure we are ready to go- that is all we can do now. If the road becomes slick, we have rock salt and abrasives. We have a new piece of equipment called Marwis that gives us real- time information. We drive around and it gives us the temperatures of the air, the temperature of the pavement, and the slickness of roads. We will run it until the storm is over. We have a special mount atop the truck.”
Kelly noted that the highway split its crews in anticipation of the winter weather. Half worked 12 hours to treat the roads Thursday morning, and another crew was scheduled to arrive at 5 p.m. and work a 12-hour shift.