Crews Preparing for Wintry Weather

Many folks around Wilmington may be longing to have a backyard like the Putnams, who have a snow making machine. The rest of us may get your first taste of snow Thursday night into Friday morning.

“Hey, the best event we can have is a non-event. We hate it. Snow sounds good, but it’s not the best thing in the world for the highways,” said New Hanover County Maintenance Engineer Jerry Taylor.

At the Department of Transportation, the trucks are already fitted with plows in the front and spreaders in the back. They’ve been converted over the last several days from dump trucks into salt trucks.

In addition to traditional salt spreading, the county now employs a pre-treatment technique using a solution of salt and water to get the roadways ready in advance.

Crews sprayed Interstate 40 Wednesday night with the solution, which you may see as white streaks on the highway. This lowers the freezing point and helps prevent icy conditions. Once snow is in the air the plows will hit the pavement.

“Around these trucks, by all means, use caution,” said Taylor. “The operator has a plow he’s trying to watch, a spreader in the back he’s trying to watch, also along with all the traffic in itself. So, give them some room, give them some space, there’s a lot going on in that cab.”

How much snow we see remains to be seen, but for the Putnams, their backyard will be white for days to come. “We’re really looking forward to this weekend when we can have a chance to build up even more snow.”