Engineering professor speaks about salt on roads

By Virginia You
Staff Writer

Coming back from Spring Break usually does not entail snow. But the piles of snow this year made professor of civil engineering James Alleman’s presentation a more powerful one.

Alleman spoke on the recycling and effects of releasing salt truck wash on Indiana highways on Wednesday afternoon in Stewart Center. His presentation was part of the 88th annual Purdue Road School conference, which due to the weather gathered only 700 to 800 members of Indiana's city, county and local municipalities, as well as engineers, contractors and many who were interested in the issues of state roads and related concerns.

"My research goal is to turn a problem into a benefit," said Alleman. "Now that it’s snowing, it is tangible since it’s right in front of our eyes. Before, salt wasn’t significant."

Highway conditions during the winter in Indiana are not the only safety problem at hand. The hundreds of trucks that sprinkle salt on highways are made of steel, which means that after a snowstorm, if they are not properly maintained, their metals will rust or corrode from the commonly used calcium chloride and magnesium chloride salts, said Alleman.

To prevent this, brine, a sodium chloride or table salt, was substituted. It is beneficial because of several reasons. Alleman works with a high percentage of salt, which is effective immediately when dumped on snow.

"Ocean salt is 3 percent, while what we make is 20 percent salt," said Alleman. "You spray it out in a mist onto the highways and it starts working right away."

Since brine is a high percentage of salt, the requirement needed comes out less and therefore has a lesser long-term effect on automobiles because salt affects metal. Brine is also far less corrosive than calcium or magnesium chloride salts. Not only is it a safer alternative, but it is also less expensive by 10 times. One gallon of calcium or magnesium chloride sells for 40 cents, but brine sells for 4 cents a gallon.

Another problem with the handling of salt water is that some of the snow gets washed into beds of water, which could pose an environmental hazard.

"We use table salt in dump truck quantity," said Alleman. "That much, that fast in a creek can potentially upset the living things in it such as fish, frogs, insects and plants."

So, that is another motivation to recycle the salt water. Out of the 140 sites in Indiana’s Department of Transportation that send trucks out after a snowstorm, there are only 12 areas that participate in using brine. Alleman predicts that next year there will be triple to quadruple this amount.

Out of the 12 areas, only six recycle the salt being used.

Alleman was not the only part of the conference, which is a project that was started in 1914 to inform transportation officials of the latest technologies and to offer a forum for discussion of ideas. The two-day event started Monday morning, covering issues such as design, equipment, safety, reducing pavement noise, violence, highway administration and management, maintenance, traffic and sign installation and maintenance.

That evening, for the first time, the latest road equipment and products were exhibited at the Cumberland Place Exhibition Center at University Inn, West Lafayette.

According to Karen Hatke, program coordinator for the Joint Transportation Research Program, the 88th annual Road School's goal was to help educate people in Indiana's transportation.

"It was made to keep people involved with transportation in Indiana's government officials, consultants, material supplies abreast of state and national issues," said Hatke. "Also, it provides a chance for people to network."

The second day began with city and county meetings, and continued on with issue discussions and mingling among those present.

Among Wednesday's events was a bus trip to the Ross-Ade Stadium project with explanations of its plans, given by Diane Windler, coordinator of the facilities planning department.

Along with tours, Wednesday's events provided a roundtable of five issues in the South Ballroom in the Purdue Memorial Union. One of the tables was preservation issues, where they were proposing a historic bridge program for Indiana. Steve Weintraut, executive vice president of Butler Fairman Seufert Consulting Engineers, said their goal was to come up with a better way of using federal highway money for bridges by proposing a statewide bases to identify historic bridges.

"Once the thousand or so eligible historic bridges are narrowed down to which will be preserved or replaced, we'll come up with a better planning structure to incorporate it into planning," said Weintraut. "We'll restore and promote them as part of the transportation heritage, where people can use, view and enjoy them."

Another issue at the roundtable was the Local Option Highway User Tax and the Distressed Road Fund, where professor of civil engineering Jon Fricker discussed the two parts of the tax proposal, which 18 out of Indiana's 92 counties have passed. The first part decides how much surtax would be added to vehicles within a two to 10 percent radius, while the second part decides between five to 40 dollars worth of tax on all other vehicles. The money would then be used for transportation and highway related activities such as repair and construction. There is the issue that counties might not want more taxes, however.

"Counties might not like to have that extra tax," said Fricker. "So, we spread the word each time we can to let counties know about the tax and give them the basics of how it would be done with a projection of the money earned, so that they can decide if it's worth the effort."

Also at the roundtable was the issue of the Indiana Department of Transportation Long-Range Plan, which pursues the mobility and safety of Indiana highway systems.

"You can't function without (highway systems)," said Frank Baukert, Indiana Department of Transportation's Indianapolis transportation planner. "You have to go to school, work, transport things from one area to another. Without it, our lives cease to function. So, we anticipate the needs the state will have in the next 25 years and make projects to meet those needs."

Their project will meet such needs as reconstruction, wider shoulders, improvement in turn lanes and other aspects that will provide a better traffic flow throughout Indiana.

The department of civil engineering and the Indiana Department of Transportation sponsored the Road School.

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