Keeping winter roads safe takes planning, people, and patience. Anti-icing is our first line of defense; paired with thorough fleet maintenance, operator training, route dry runs, and ongoing highway upkeep. It’s how the Calumet County Highway Department stays prepared for everything from quiet frost to full blizzards.

What is Ani-icing? The easy answer to this question is to apply liquid salt brine to the road surface before a winter event. However, that short answer deserves more explanation. Let's consider a real event comparison from 2023 for this explanation.

On the evening of December 14, 2023, I received an email asking me why the Highway Department was applying salt brine to roads when the sun was shining and there was no snow or ice in the forecast. Here was my response:

We use a forecasting tool called MDSS/DTN paid for by the WISDOT to help make decisions regarding when to anti-ice (spray salt brine on the roads prior to a winter event).  This tool forecasted a 45% chance of frost on the pavement today.  This was treatment for a frost event, not for snow and ice.  Frost forms on the pavement when the pavement temperature is 32 degrees or below and drops below the dew point temperature.  

By treating the roads with salt brine ahead of time, especially for frost, we are using much less salt than if we had to go out and spread rock salt on the roads.  In some cases, we are using up to 75% less salt.  Salt brine consists of water and 23.3% salt.  It stays on the road for up to five days, where dry rock salt will blow off after a day or two.  It is also less corrosive to your vehicle and the road itself than rock salt due to the amount of salt present.

We had a very similar frost event on the morning of November 30, 2023.  That morning, we had multiple rollovers and other accidents due to frost on the highways.  We had anti-iced some roads the day prior, but not all.  We did have to salt all highways that morning and used 45 tons of salt.  Yesterday (December 14), we used salt brine on all state highways and some county highways, the total amount of salt used in that brine was 18 tons (60% less salt than the previous event).We did have one rollover this morning (December 15) due to frost on a section of county road that was not treated with salt brine, so it appears our efforts paid off.

Hopefully, this helps explain our operation in a way that makes sense.  If you have any other questions, please let me know.

The resident responded with a “thank you” for the explanation, and an appreciation for the efforts that the Highway Department puts in to keeping our highways safe. While Anti-icing is used in scenarios other than forecasted frost, such as preventing bonding of snow and ice to the pavement, the explanation above provides an easy example of how it works and why we do it. It is also the most questioned application.

As the Highway Department makes its transition from summer road maintenance and construction to winter preparations and readiness, there is a lot happening. Trucks and equipment are washed, summer tools come off the trucks and plowing gear and winter equipment go on. Mechanics perform in-depth preventive maintenance checks and service on all the trucks and equipment to make sure that they will be ready and reliable for long winter storms.Highway crews make dry runs of their plow routes, marking obstacles, pushing in snow fence posts, and all new employees are training on plowing equipment. The Department's salt sheds are inventoried, brine production starts, and brine storage tanks are filled. WISDOT representatives inspect county-owned winter equipment for readiness, and all salt application equipment is calibrated.

After all these winter preparations have been made and the Department is ready for what Mother Nature may throw at us, we go back to maintenance work on the highways and shops until winter weather requires action. This includes cleaning sediment from ditches with heavy equipment, asphalt and concrete pavement patching, miscellaneous demolition projects for county departments or other municipalities, tree and brush clearing in highway rights-of-way, summer construction equipment maintenance, along with a host of other activities.

The Calumet County Highway Department has an exceptionally dedicated staff. We are a smaller department compared to other counties and only have one shift of employees. Our team knows that when a winter storm hits, they are needed, and they have always been there to take action. Whether it's anti-icing on a sunny day in preparation for the next frost event, preparing for a freezing rain event, or working multiple days for 18 hours (sometimes sleeping on cots, in trucks, or nearby hotels) for a big blizzard, rest assured, our county highways will stay as safe as possible for its residents.

I am always willing to discuss our operations and answer questions. Feel free to reach out to our department at any time.

Chad J Scheinoha, Calumet County Highway Commissioner
Phone: 920-849-1434 | www.calumetcounty.org/164/Highway