Township uses beet juice for snow removal
WEST GOSHEN » While mom probably said “eat your vegetables” countless times, a Chester County township has found a different use for the lowly beet.
Six gallons of beet juice per ton of road salt is referred to as “super salt” or “salt on steroids” by township staffers in West Goshen, who are using the mixture to treat 94 miles of township roads
While the concoction smells like wet dog food, it effectively helps clear the roads.
Less salt is needed and because the mixture is sticky, the salt doesn’t bounce and instead stays where it was thrown. Salt doesn’t end up uselessly in roadside ditches.
By using less road salt, the environment is better preserved.
The township also pre-treats roads with a 5-percent beet juice mix, as part of a brine solution composed of 23.3 percent salt, and the rest water, prior to a storm.
“It buys us time at the beginning of a storm,” said Dave Woodward, public works director.
The township runs five 950-gallon brine trucks which can be converted for other uses, and 35 total vehicles manned by township staffers, from a 40,000 square foot facility located at the township administrative campus.
Every department is represented to fight snow.
Woodward said it is critical to know in advance the exact temperature, dew points, the rain/ snow line and when a storm might change from rain to snow.
The township houses its own weather machine and subscribes to a private weather service. Meteorologists may be contacted for a more accurate storm forecast or to discuss timing and precipitation amounts. This allows the township to more accurately call out needed personnel.
“We email back and forth with a meteorologist,” Woodward said. “We get a better forecast.”
“We are very proactive rather than reactive,” said Mark Bertolami, street superintendent.
The 2011 streets department facility at Five Points Road and Paoli Pike can store up to 1,800 tons of salt, with the township using about 1,200 to 1,400 tons per season.
The building also includes offices, kitchen facilities, lockers, showers, several televisions and bunk rooms.
Snow removal is a year-round job. Mechanics work on vehicles prior to the storm season.
Staffers also spend two days removing salt from trucks after an event.
Although there was not a flurry in sight, earlier this week, employees were busy adding beet juice to salt.
“Our repair shop can make new hydraulic lines, replace cutting edges and it stocks various repair parts to keep the fleet operating through an event,” reads the township’s winter operational procedure manual. “Our mechanics are routinely called in with our operators during storms.
“In case of a mechanical issue, they are ready to quickly return a piece of snow-fighting equipment to service.”
The township began its antiicing program after visiting the American Public Works Association’s North American Snow Conference, in Louisville, Ky., during 2008.
Since then, the township has purchased a 5,000 gallon brine maker that can manufacture the goop at a rate of 4,000 gallons per hour.
West Goshen also supplies several other townships with brine and with the revenue maintains and repairs equipment.