Date:  Friday, December 10, 2010

Contact: Jamie Holter, WSDOT Communications 206-719-7535 (cell)

SEATTLE – Eight new mini-sanders pick-up trucks are now ready to join the fight against snow and ice when the next storm hits the Puget Sound area, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) said today.

The department installed two hopper sanders into two trucks, giving them a half-ton capacity each for sand. A third hopper has been delivered and nearly installed. Five other trucks will be equipped with tailgate-mounted sanders that can carry nine cubic yards of sand.

“The fact that we couldn’t get some of our large sanding equipment to the scene of some of the most significant collisions during the Thanksgiving week storm caused us to look for solutions,” said Steve Pierce, WSDOT Communications Director. “Converting some of our trucks into mini-sanders will let us maneuver more easily through stalled traffic to a problem area.”

In future storms, WSDOT also will match a snowplow with a Washington State Patrol car and deploy this “Joint Response Team” to priority collisions involving buses, semi-trucks or other large vehicles. Collisions involving semi-trucks and buses played a significant role in the traffic snarls three weeks ago.

By the numbers

In the month of November, WSDOT’s maintenance teams spent $5.58 million total. Of that, crews spent $2.38 million from Nov. 21 through Nov. 24. Labor costs accounted for $1.75 million. Materials costs accounted for $1.37 million.

Pierce said the cost of fighting the storm during the week of Nov. 21 through Nov. 26 in King, Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties has been tallied at $600,000. This includes the cost of labor, including overtime, and materials such as sand, salt, anti-icer and de-icer. In King County alone, WSDOT used nearly 1,000 tons of salt, 1,000 cubic yards of sand/salt mix, and 25,000 gallons of liquid deicer.

WSDOT has a two-year statewide budget of $73 million to fight snow and ice.

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