We receive complaints from residents after every snow event about how our crews never salted or plowed their street or how some other street is better than theirs. In most cases these were the first streets to be salted or plowed and were covered again with continuing snowfall. Or, it may just be that a particular local street just doesn't get the traffic flow to melt the snow as quickly as other busier streets. In no case do we ever miss streets or neighborhoods unless our equipment cannot make it through cars parked on the streets. All snowfall, sleet and ice operations will initially require continuous salting of all streets, alleys and intersections.
Salt is used to prevent the snow or freezing rain from freezing directly to the pavement.
If this bond between the snow and the street is not broken our plows will not be able to remove the snow all the way down to bare pavement. Salt by itself can not melt snow very efficiently so liquid calcium chloride is added to our salt to improve its effectiveness, and the action of vehicles breaking down the salt into a brine solution are what cause the melting to take place. Even though all streets receive the same amount of salt from our trucks, the streets with low traffic volumes will take longer to melt snow than those heavier traveled. In extremely heavy snowfall we may have to abandon the salt operations in order to open streets for traffic, and then return to salting upon completion of the plowing. Snowplow blades do not rest directly on the pavement, but are carried on casters or hardened steel shoes that raise the blade from the pavement.