Here’s how Bellingham is prepared for snow and ice on the roads

The city of Bellingham has never been more prepared for snow and ice than it is this year, according to the superintendent for maintenance of public works operations, Marty Gray.

The city currently has 750 tons of road salt stockpiled, with another 800 tons on standby. That is over three million pounds of salt.

This isn’t your average table salt. Road salt is not purified and refined, but salt in its natural form. It is larger, grainier and harder, around a quarter inch in diameter. This means it will last longer, melt more snow and can even provide traction for vehicles, according to Gray.

The reason the city has this much salt is that the snowstorm last December nearly used up the entire city stockpile. After one week of heavy snow, the city had used over 650 tons of salt, with only about 100 tons left in reserve.

Gray said he had to scramble to find salt last winter, and looked all over the country, eventually finding a place near Salt Lake City, Utah. Luckily, Bellingham didn’t see another massive snow event, so the extra salt was not needed, and remains in the city stockpile today.

Because it was so difficult to find salt in a pinch last year, Gray made sure the city bought the extra 800 tons in advance. But with the city stockpile full, the extra salt is being stored in Utah. It can be shipped to Bellingham with a phone call.

Last year cities across the country had issues with distribution issues with salt sellers lacking drivers and bad weather.

But the same company that was able to transport salt here last winter is ready to ship this year, so Gray feels confident the company will be able to transport that salt if it is needed.

It is unlikely Bellingham will need to use all the salt it has stockpiled. Gray said it would have to be “a historic winter event,” but if that historic event does happen, the city is ready.

The city applies salt to the roads in several ways. A salt/water brine mixture is used the first time temperatures go below freezing. This brine dries to the pavement, but when the snow makes contact with the brine, it re-activates and melts the first snow layer. If more snow falls, this melted bottom layer makes it easier for the snow plows, as the snow is not stuck to the pavement. The city has about 18,000 gallons of this brine, ready to go, according to Gray.

“It’s like a non-stick spray on a fry pan, it makes the snow come off easier,” Gray said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald.

The second method is a salt/sand mixture that is left behind by the city’s eight snow plows. This is the heavy weapon used during hard snowfall, and usually goes on while snow is still falling. The mixture is mostly sand, at a ratio of two to one. During the heavy snowfall last year, the city bumped that ratio up to four to one to save salt, Gray said.

The sand/salt mixture is used everywhere except for downtown Bellingham and the Lake Whatcom watershed. This is because the sand/salt mixture will create a dirty-looking black slush when the snow melts, and the city doesn’t want the slush to get into the watershed, Gray said.