HOUSTON \u2013 As Houston braces for an incoming winter storm this weekend, transportation officials warn that standard road treatments may prove ineffective against expected icy conditions.<\/p>\n
Road crews typically deploy brine, a mixture of water and salt, on highways and bridges as a preventive measure. <\/p>\n
However, forecasted rain before freezing temperatures could render this treatment useless, leaving Houston\u2019s roads particularly vulnerable to ice formation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe typically begin that pretreatment about 24 hours out. There\u2019s not much effectiveness that takes place beyond 24 hours. The brine will wear off,\u201d explained Randy Macchi, Houston Public Works Director.<\/p>\n
Limited resources for winter weather<\/p>\n
Unlike northern cities, Houston lacks the infrastructure and resources typically used to combat winter weather conditions. <\/p>\n
The city has just fifteen sand-spreading trucks and seven brine applicator units available for its massive road network.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city of Houston we are responsible for more than sixteen thousand lane miles of roadway… that\u2019s a distance from Houston to Tokyo and back,\u201d said Macchi. \u201cBut the reality is that\u2019s not a whole lot for city like ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps most telling of Houston\u2019s limited winter weather preparedness: \u201cWe don\u2019t have any snow plows,\u201d Macchi noted. \u201cWe do get that question typically when a winter storm comes up… the answer is zero.\u201d<\/p>\n
Different approaches across the region<\/p>\n
While the city employs a combination of brine and sand treatments, Harris County Precinct 4 takes a different approach, utilizing chat rock, a finely ground gravel material, on approximately 140 bridges from Tomball to Katy to Hockley.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs people drive on it, it\u2019ll break up any ice that\u2019s accumulated on those bridges,\u201d explained Walter Hambrick, Director of Road & Bridge for Harris County Precinct 4. <\/p>\n
The precinct maintains six trucks with two spreaders each for distribution.<\/p>\n
Unlike brine or salt treatments, chat rock offers some environmental advantages. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will go collect it all, bring it back to our stockpiles, and reuse it,\u201d Hambrick said. \u201cWe have the sustainability also \u2014 with brine, salt, you have the environmental concerns. We don\u2019t have those concerns with chat rock.\u201d<\/p>\n
What do the experts up north say? <\/p>\n
When consulted about Houston\u2019s predicament, Pittsburgh\u2019s winter weather experts provided a sobering assessment. <\/p>\n
\u201cWell, like you said, you can\u2019t use brine when it\u2019s raining because it\u2019s just going to wash it away,\u201d said John McClory, Acting Director of Pittsburgh Public Works.<\/p>\n
McClory, who brings 38 years of winter weather management experience in Pittsburgh, explained that without proper salt treatments, which can work in temperatures as low as 15 degrees below zero, Houston faces limited options. <\/p>\n
\u201cI guess you guys are going to have to wait until it thaws, unless you can come up with some idea where to get some salt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just don\u2019t do it<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t have to drive this weekend into Monday, simply don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re discouraging traffic. We want people to prepare today, tomorrow, and to Friday, so they\u2019re not having to go out and use the roads,\u201d Hambrick emphasized. \u201cOur treatment is for that emergency travel, law enforcement, police, fire and EMS.\u201d<\/p>\n
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