CASTLE HAYNE, NC (WWAY) — The North Carolina Department of Transportation is getting the roads ready for the winter storm headed for the Cape Fear this weekend.
The “anti-icing operations” started Wednesday morning at the New Hanover County Department of Transportation Maintenance Yard.
“You never know what’s actually going to happen with the weather but we want to be as prepared as possible. You plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Assistant Division Maintenance Engineer Caitlin Marks said.
These operations include brining the roads. First, salt is picked up from the salt bays. At the New Hanover County location, there are three salt bays and each bay holds up to 200 tons of salt.
The salt is taken to the brine plant where they mix the salt with water to create the brine. There are three 5,000 gallon tanks, meaning they can hold up to 15,000 gallons of brine.
“Brine is really the best line of defense that we have against bad weather, snow, and ice,” Marks said. “It’s really the best thing that we have to get snow and ice off the roads quickly after an event.”
After the mixture is created, trucks from Sampson to Brunswick Counties come to fill up their brine tanks before heading back to spread the mixture on the roads.
While the brine helps keep the ice from sticking to the roads, it’s not a perfect solution. Marks says drivers should avoid driving during and after the storm if possible.
“Please give our crews time to get out there and really clear everything and make sure everything is safe,” Marks said.
If you do have to travel, she says to take it slow and make sure you’re leaving lots of space between you and other drivers.
After the storm, the crews will break out the plows and salt spreaders to start the “de-icing process.”