AMHERST, Mass. — Long before Massachusetts receives its first big winter storm of the season, Michael Smith has been helping local DPWs prepare.
The technical training specialist from the Transportation Center at UMass Amherst leads a workshop called Snow and Ice for Frontline Employees. He estimates he’s brought it to more than 200 Massachusetts DPWs by now. And he never runs out of material. “It’s public safety, it’s cost, it’s environmental. How efficient we’re going to be. We’re going to cover all of that.”
Boston 25 News caught up with Smith as he brought the workshop to the Chelmsford DPW, where representatives from a handful of local communities gathered to go through the course material.
The workshop included best practices, like when and how often to treat a roadway. Smith also discussed some alternative methods for keeping roads drivable in the winter, including using something known as beet juice.
Smith says the method has been used in the Midwest for decades, but is relatively new to New England. “What beet juice actually is is a sugar beet molasses, which is one of many organic compounds that we add to salt or liquid salt called salt brine. That gives us a lot of benefits on the roadway. We’ll be talking about organics, the way to use them, and how to blend them.”
Smith says the technology of managing roadways during the winter is always changing. The goal of his workshop is to provide DPW professionals with different tips and tricks they can use to make the job easier and provide better results for drivers. Smith says his workshops wind down by about January each year as crews head out to apply their knowledge during the winter months.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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