BRICK – Roads have only been plowed once in the past two years, in the winter of 2022, when there was more than four inches of snow, which is when the Department of Public Works (DPW) deploys their snowplows.
The township has some 48 vehicles for plowing, which includes seven rear-loader garbage trucks that can have plows attached, said Superintendent of DPW Stephen Krakovsky. The automated trucks are not used for plowing, he added.
“We pre-brine our salt with brine, we don’t brine roads,” he said. “As the salt is coming out of the truck it gets sprayed with brine as it’s going down the chute. We’re too big and too vast to brine roads – it’s a slower process since we have so many back-downs (dead end streets and cul-de-sacs).”
The county and state brine their roads since they are just a straight shot, Krakovsky said. “They just run down 30 to 40 miles per hour,” he said. “We’re in the neighborhoods so it would take us a whole day to brine the roads.”
The brine allows the salt to work at a colder temperature, making the salt more effective, he said. Last winter the DPW salted the roads three or four times for storms that had one to two inches of snow, and then a few times during cold nights, Krakovsky said.
The two salt houses at the DPW are currently full, one holding 1,000 tons, the other holding 500 tons, enough for about four snowstorms. Some 300 tons are used for each road salting, or 250 tons when the newer, computerized spread rate trucks are utilized.
Krakovsky said when they know for sure that there’s a big snowstorm coming with more than four inches forecast, he meets with other township administrators including Business Administrator Joanne Bergin, OEM Director Joseph Pawlowicz, Police Chief David Forrester and Safety Officer Ronald Gascall to try and establish a timeline for when the storm will hit.
Then he said DPW notifies their approved six outside snow-removal contractors who have a combined 47 pieces of equipment.
The township DPW does not have enough manpower to operate all the snowplows at the same time.
“We have two shifts, so we have to cut the manpower in half, which leaves us with about 30 guys per shift who have CDLs and can plow,” he said.
The township has 1,500 tons of salt stored in two salt houses. (Photo by Judy Smestad-Nunn)
DPW workers are notified and come to work a couple of hours before plowing should begin while the outside contractors are on standby. Roads are salted before they are plowed, which keeps the snow from adhering to the blacktop. The salt will melt up to two inches of snow, he said.
There are 54 plowing routes, and Krakovsky said they cover as many as they can at once. Each driver has an assignment. All the trucks can be followed with GPS tracking, so DPW supervisors can see where each truck has been.
DPW workers get paid overtime – 1.5 times their salary – after eight hours of scheduled work hours, or if they have to work on weekends.
Roads are salted again after they’re plowed to prevent re-freezing, he said. Roads get salted twice for each snowstorm.
The forecast for this winter is mild and wet, Krakovsky said. Hopefully only salting will be needed, he said.
“The Storm Fund is a dedicated account that is separate from our operating budget; therefore, it carries over year to year,” Township Business Administrator Joanne Bergin said. There is currently $1,526,033.73 in the fund.
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