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Keeping the roads safe: Fleets of sand trucks called on due to freezing temperatures
By Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com, @Bill_PlanoStar on Twitter
Collin County residents woke up to icy roads Tuesday morning, wreaking havoc on morning commutes and causing some schools to cancel or delay classes.
In Plano, crews were out before sunrise sanding and salting roads, said Gerald Cosgrove, the city's public works director. Their work allowed most roads in Plano to remain drivable, resulting in Plano ISD to begin classes on time.
Cosgrove said his team has a fleet of 20 dump trucks that are used to spread a de-icing mixture across the city. With two trucks held in reserve, the 18 active trucks focused on areas that typically become ice covered.
"We don't sand all the streets," he said. "We sand intersections, overpasses and some of the hills that people have problems with. We have about 400 areas on our sanding program."
Officer David Tilley of the Plano PD said the department had several wrecks Tuesday morning, some of which could possibly be attributed to road conditions. However, he said the amount was nowhere near what it was during the last winter storm, when the department responded to more than 50 crashes on Dec. 25 and 26.
While the city of Plano is responsible for most of streets in the city, U.S. 75 is maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation, while toll roads are de-iced by the North Texas Tollway Authority.
Michael Rey, NTTA spokesman, said technology upgrades have made determining which roads need sanding an easier process.
"We have roadside sensors along our system where we are able to monitor the temperature and condition of the road," Rey said. "We can see if we are about to have a road become icy. Around 5 a.m. [Tuesday], everything was right at or below freezing."
When the roads have been treated, the sensors are able to confirm that the de-icing agent is working by showing the road condition as chemically wet -- meaning at a freezing temperature but not frozen -- versus icy.
The de-icing agent used by the NTTA's fleet of 40 trucks is a combination of liquid or solid magnesium chloride (the salt component) and sand. The salt, Rey said, melts the ice, while the sand provides traction for motorists.
Of course, applying the mixture is only half the job, Cosgrove said. In 2011 when heavy ice blanketed the area during Super Bowl week, the city of Plano dispensed so much sand that extra passes were required by street sweepers to remove it from the streets.
So far this year, that has not been the case, Cosgrove said, noting that the city's regular sweeping pattern has been successful in removing the sand once it is no longer needed.
In Plano, crews were out before sunrise sanding and salting roads, said Gerald Cosgrove, the city's public works director. Their work allowed most roads in Plano to remain drivable, resulting in Plano ISD to begin classes on time.
Cosgrove said his team has a fleet of 20 dump trucks that are used to spread a de-icing mixture across the city. With two trucks held in reserve, the 18 active trucks focused on areas that typically become ice covered.
"We don't sand all the streets," he said. "We sand intersections, overpasses and some of the hills that people have problems with. We have about 400 areas on our sanding program."
Officer David Tilley of the Plano PD said the department had several wrecks Tuesday morning, some of which could possibly be attributed to road conditions. However, he said the amount was nowhere near what it was during the last winter storm, when the department responded to more than 50 crashes on Dec. 25 and 26.
While the city of Plano is responsible for most of streets in the city, U.S. 75 is maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation, while toll roads are de-iced by the North Texas Tollway Authority.
Michael Rey, NTTA spokesman, said technology upgrades have made determining which roads need sanding an easier process.
"We have roadside sensors along our system where we are able to monitor the temperature and condition of the road," Rey said. "We can see if we are about to have a road become icy. Around 5 a.m. [Tuesday], everything was right at or below freezing."
When the roads have been treated, the sensors are able to confirm that the de-icing agent is working by showing the road condition as chemically wet -- meaning at a freezing temperature but not frozen -- versus icy.
The de-icing agent used by the NTTA's fleet of 40 trucks is a combination of liquid or solid magnesium chloride (the salt component) and sand. The salt, Rey said, melts the ice, while the sand provides traction for motorists.
Of course, applying the mixture is only half the job, Cosgrove said. In 2011 when heavy ice blanketed the area during Super Bowl week, the city of Plano dispensed so much sand that extra passes were required by street sweepers to remove it from the streets.
So far this year, that has not been the case, Cosgrove said, noting that the city's regular sweeping pattern has been successful in removing the sand once it is no longer needed.
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