MOUNT VERNON — For the motorists on Knox County highways, it’s comforting to know the snowplow trucks are out, keeping the roads clear. Long before a Level 1 snow alert was issued at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, however, highway personnel were in high gear.
The Knox County Highway Department received word from sheriff’s deputies at 4 a.m. Tuesday that the roads were getting a little dicey. The crews were ready.
In anticipation of the storm, snowplows were mounted and all of the trucks were fueled Monday afternoon. On Tuesday morning crews were called in, the trucks quickly loaded with the salt-sand mixture to spread on the roads, and crews were on their way by 4:45 a.m.
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The department has 15 snowplow trucks and 27 drivers, who rotate on 12-hour shifts. Every employee in the highway department is trained and licensed to drive snowplows. A ride with John Cline, a 27-year employee and truck driver, is an eye-opening experience in how to handle a truck with a snowplow hanging on the front and a load in its bed. Fully loaded, the truck weighs about 15 tons and must be steered down the road very carefully.
Approaching traffic is always a concern; most drivers slow and pull over, Cline said. Mailboxes also present a challenge — don’t knock them over with the right corner of the snowplow, but drive close enough to plow the snow off the road.
A big problem is simply keeping the windshield clear. Wind blows snow back over the plow and occasionally blankets the glass. Ice builds up around the wipers, and sometimes the drivers have to stop and clean it off. Fog also builds up on the windshield and door glass; turning up the defroster and cracking the window glass helps with that problem. Visibility over a countryside blanketed with snow can also be a problem.
Trucks don’t ride like luxury cars. They bounce around a little, making it even more important for the driver to pay attention.
But modern trucks are a big improvement over long-ago models. The interior is comfortable, they have good seats, and seating position heaters and air conditioners work. Perhaps the best part is they now all have automatic transmissions. Cline remembers when shifting gears was a constant chore while plowing, as well as attending to the snowplow.
The department is ready for the winter snows. On hand is 1,100 tons of the half-and-half salt-sand mixture, as well as 600 tons of salt. The salt alone is used on county roads close to the city.
Knox County Engineer Jim Henry said they took delivery of 75 tons of salt, three truck loads, Monday and Tuesday, and have 500 tons on order as a stockpile for the rest of the winter. Henry said there is a new chemical available to help in battling the icy roads: M1000 & Ice Ban, which is mixed in with the salt-sand combination. M1000 is a corn derivative that lowers the freezing point to 20 degrees below zero.
Mixed in at 8 gallons per ton of salt-sand mixture, M1000 allows crews to use less of the salt-sand combination, and it is friendly to the environment. The county has 444 miles of roads to maintain. As Henry points out, that’s 888 lane miles, as drivers plow one way, clearing half of the road, then turn around and plow the other side. The snowplow drivers apply the salt-sand mixture on the return trip so that it is spread on the cleared surface.
That’s a lot of miles of road to clear, so be patient, residents. The drivers will be along to clear the way.
