WINTER MAINTENANCE INNOVATIONS AT THE CITY LEVEL

10th annual Road Salt SymposiumFeb. 3, 2011

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Joey AlmondCrew Leader / Lead Equipment Operator

City of Ankeny, Iowa

City of Ankeny

•Who and where we are.•Awards and recognitions•By the numbers.•Growth, challenges and accomplishments.•Function and capability – Facility, Fleet, Equipment•Recent success – disaster averted.•Contributing factors personal and maintenance• Public awareness

OVERVIEW:

Ankeny is on the north side of Des Moines, Iowa and was founded in 1875 and started as a coal mining community with an area of one square mile and 445 people. During WWII Ankeny was home to a federal ordinance plant and after the war the plant was purchased by Deere & Company and the remainder of the land by ISU. Ankeny is now home to the Des Moines Area Community College and the Metro North Business Park which houses Casey’s General headquarters, several bioscience companies, and the Ankeny Regional Airport; Iowa’s third busiest airport.

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Awards and Recognitions

2010• 2010 Urban Steward of the Year Award from Polk Soil & Water Conservation District.

2009• The August 2009 issue of Money magazine named Ankeny as one of the Top 100 Places to Live.

• 2009 Environmental Stewardship Award from Metro Waste Authority (MWA) in recognition of Ankeny's red bottle campaign.

2008• The August 2008 issue of Family Circle magazine named Ankeny as one of the Top 10 Best Towns for Families in the United States.

2007• Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects: 2007 Merit Award for Planning and Urban Design and Land Stewardship award for the Prairie Trail development storm water guidelines.

• Metro Waste Authority: Awarded Ankeny Sustainability Award for commitment to waste reduction, recycling and environmental stewardship.

•State of Iowa: Designated an Iowa Safe Community

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ANKENY BY THE NUMBERS: THEN AND NOW

In the year 2000:• Population of 27,117• Maintained 125 Roadway miles / 263 lane miles, and 108

cul-de-sacs

In the year 2010:• Population of 43,319• Maintained 214 roadway miles / 454 lane miles, and 278

cul-de-sacs

• Population increase: 60%• Roadway increase: 71%, lane mile increase: 73%, cul-de-

sac increase: 157%

City Growth, Weather Challenges, and Salt Use Accomplishments

• In 1999 we applied 1,051 ton of salt to 117 miles of street that would equate to using 1,481 ton of salt today on 198 miles of street, a 41% increase in center line miles. At the time we had liquid systems on some of the plows and were also pre-wetting loads, however our main concern was just to get salt and sand on the roads as we didn’t really appreciate or understand how effective a liquid / straight salt application would be. The fact that we have stayed constant with the amount of salt used each year for over 10 years when compared to the miles of street we maintain is the direct result of integrating a fully operational and permanent liquid program to our snow and ice control agenda as well as information and data management and historical report references. What has really changed is our reduction in application rate which is a direct result of a properly determining when to anti-ice as well as implementing pre-treating applications to the entire winter maintenance fleet .

• Our application rate when we first used straight salt in 2004 was 12.03 ton per center line mile. With the addition of pre-treating applications and increased anti-icing that decreased to 8.28 ton in 2006, and increased slightly due to a sever winter in 2007 to 9.92 ton. In 2008 we had 29 events, if you divide the 29 events in half, which would compare to a normal winter, we applied 8.5 ton a center line mile. Keep in mind we had three sever ice storms in December of 2007, nothing like we have ever had to deal with in the past. Listed below is a comparison of specific storm events and materials applied in 2003, 2007, and in 2008 for three specific accumulations.

Trace 1” 2” 5”2003 125 ton 140 ton 275 ton 402 ton2007 80 ton 127 ton 158 ton 379 ton2008 45 ton 63 ton 63 ton 237 ton

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Old Maintenance Facility

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New (and Improved) Maintenance Facility

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ANKENY’S SNOW FLEET:

• 11 SINGLE AXLE TRUCKS WITH 11’ FRONT PLOW AND 10’ PATROL WING• 2 SINGLE AXLE BACK-UPS (FRONT PLOW ONLY)

• THREE TANDEM-AXLE TRUCKS WITH 11’ FRONT PLOWS AND 11’ BENCHING WINGS• ONE BACK-UP TANDEM WITH FRONT PLOW ONLY

•FOUR PAYLOADERS FOR CUL-DE-SACS, LARGE SNOW DRIFTS, AND BUCKETING SNOW. ONE MOTORGRADER FOR MULTI-PURPOSE LARGE SNOW REMOVAL AND WINGING.

• ALL WINTER MAINTENANCE EQUIPMENT IS KEPT INSIDE THE 16,000 sq. ft. MAIN MAINTENANCE FACILITY WHICH IS HEATED.

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•ANKENY’S LIQUID PROGRAM CONSISTS OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES OF VEHICLES AND APPLICATION WHICH ALL SERVE THE SAME AS WELL AS MULTIPLE PURPOSES.

•LIQUID TANKS FOR PRE-WETTING:

• ANTI-ICING AND DE-ICING APPLICATORS

• NEWEST ADDITION - 135 GALLON TANK• PUMP DRIVEN BY HYDRAULIC MOTOR• RARELY LOSES PRIME• FAIRLY ACCURATE• GOOD TO THE LAST DROP

• ANTI-ICING AND DE-ICING APPLICATORS

• MOST PREVALENT - 90 GALLON TANK• PUMP DRIVEN BY HYDRAULIC MOTOR• LOSES PRIME WHEN LOW DUE TO SLOSHING• NOT AS ACCURATE• WILL LOSE PRIME IF TRIMS ARE SET TOO HIGH

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Controllers and Equipment:• GL 400 multi-stick• Freedom ACS single stick (3 axis)• High volume hydraulic driven gear pump• Both are set up for pre-wet yet capable of anti and de-icing

• ANTI-ICING AND DE-ICING APPLICATORS

• OLDER TANK, LAST ONE IN FLEET - 120 GALLON TANK• PUMP DRIVEN BY ELECTRIC MOTOR• WILL ONLY LOSE PRIME IF RAN COMPLETELY DRY• VERY ACCURATE *

• ANTI-ICING AND DE-ICING APPLICATORS

• OLDEST TANK IN THE FLEET (ON THIRD TRUCK) - 200 GALLON TANK• PUMP DRIVEN BY ELECTRIC MOTOR• WILL ONLY LOSE PRIME IF RAN COMPLETELY DRY• VERY ACCURATE *

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Controllers and Equipment:• Command-All 5100• Diaphragm pump driven by 12v motor, low output

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Keys to dialing in to a functional and dependable pre-wet applicator – addressing the problems and finding a solution.

•Problems: Loss of pump prime, inaccurate totals/counts, liquid pump locks up when put in to summer storage.

Prime loss causes:• liquid gravity feeds out when pump not in use• max trims set too high and liquid supply can’t keep up with pump when “blasting”• lower liquid levels “slosh” in certain tank designs and starve the pump

Liquid inaccuracy cause:• liquid gravity feeds out on own• max trims set too high and over-speeds flow meter when “blasting”

Locked pump cause:• pump not flushed of corrosive liquid• no lubricant or preservative added to pump

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Solutions:

•ALL LIQUID PRE-WET TANKS ARE TAILGATE MOUNTED ON REVERSE DUMP BODIES.

ANKENY ANTI-ICING AND DE-ICING APPLICATORS.

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• PRIMARY ANTI-ICING RIG – INTERNATIONAL DT4600• FORMER FLEET PLOW TRUCK NOW A BACK-UP PLOW IF NEEDED• LIQUID CAPACITY 1000 GALLON, CALIBRATED TO 25 GALLON PER LANE MILE• SIDE SPRAY BARS ENABLE SPRAYER TO COVER UP TO THREE LANES AT ONCE ON LARGE INTERSECTIONS

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Anti-icing before the blizzard.

• HOMEMADE ANTI-ICER• ONLY WINTER FUNCTION• 500 GALLON TANK WITH CALIBRATED NOZZLES

• Roadway anti-icing• Runway de-icing• Manufactured in-house

ANKENY SALT AND CHEMICAL STORAGE FACILITY

PRIMARY SALT BUILDING OUTDOOR LIQUID STORAGE WITH SECONDARY CONTAINMENT

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• DRY STORAGE SHED CAN HOLD UP TO 3,500 TON OF SALT• ALL TRANSPORTED TO SHOP BY TRUCK THEN STOCKPILED IN THE SHED BY PAYLOADER

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Salt inventory is typically replenished by the end of July.

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Ankeny’s current salt inventory: 2100 ton remains.

Ankeny Liquid Facility: Mixing, Transfer, and Blending

Original Transfer Station Original Mixer (Overflow)

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Main Storage Plumbing

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Out with the old…

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In with the new• Less hose and barb connections – decreased leaks / liquid loss• Hard-pipe manifold – less space, easier to follow, no leaks

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• Separation of chemical systems – eliminate chance of cross contamination. User friendly.• Full digital monitoring of each chemical.• Full transfer capability with individual manifolds.• Pressure monitoring and pressure reliefs decrease chance of line / connection failure.

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Brine Mixing

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Tripled production, portable, easier to maintain and clean.

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Fully capable of monitoring, pressure sensing and relieving, and straining.

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New digital salometer vs. traditional refractometer

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Airport runway de-icing with E-36

• Ankeny’s main runway is 5000ft long by 100ft wide• Des Moines Int. general reliever

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• Newly tasked responsibilities of runway de-icing inhibits City’s snow and ice control on roadways.

• Typically if the streets are ice / snow covered the runway is too.

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• Potassium Acetate• Build an applicator that can accurately apply one gallon per 1000 sq ft.• $11 gallon• One runway application 500+ gallons

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• Ag application technology• Easy assembly• Locally available• Prices reasonable

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Calcium Chloride Works.

COUNTY ROAD

ANKENY ROAD

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Salt / Sand / Brine vs. Salt / Calcium

County road – Salt Sand mix

Ankeny – Salt pre-wet withCalcium (120lbs per lane mile @ 5gl per ton)

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COUNTY SIDE

CITY OF ANKENY SIDE

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977075 - 54th StreetSampling Results

TSS pH NH-3 Nitrite Nitrate COD CBOD NO3 DO Fecal e. coli Chloride Transparency Phosphate P Water Tempmg/L SU mg/L (field) (field) mg/L mg/L mg/L mg/L cfu/dL mg/L mg/L cm (field) mg/L Celsius

Date11/18/2009 13 9.0 <1 NS NS 7 0.9 7.9 11.5 87 29 NS NS NS 4.5 8.412/17/2009 Could not sample, water frozen1/28/2010 11 7.8 <1 NS NS 7.6 5 7.8 14.55 TNTC TNTC 29 NS NS 1.31 0.32/25/2010 5 8.6 <1 NS NS 6 2 NA 13.1 NA NA 29 NS NS NA 0.23/18/2010 87 7.6 <1 0 2 NA 2 NA 11.96 <10,000 NA <29 17 1 NA 4.74/15/2010 13 8.2 <1 0 2 43 2.5 NA 9.4 NA NA <29 60 0 NA 10.75/27/2010 13 8.5 <1 0 5 46 1.6 NA 10.45 NA NA 29 36 0.6 NA 14.76/24/2010 29 8.0 <1 0 2 3 3 NA 9.37 NA NA <29 37 0.7 NA 17.67/15/2010 20 8.1 <1 0 0 13 1 NA 9.49 NA NA <36 43 NS NA 23.19/2/2010 66 8 <1 0 2 18 5.2 NA 7.7 NA NA <32 18 0.4 NA 21.39/16/2010 15 8.1 <1 0 5 11.4 1.3 NA 9.35 2400 NA <32 46 0.6 NA 17.410/21/2010 8 8.5 <1 0 2 4 0.8 NA 10.37 800 NA <32 60 0 NA 10.511/19/2010 13 8 0.3 0 0 4 3 NA 11.77 NA NA <32 60 0 NA 6.112/16/2010 Could not sample, water frozen1/20/2011 Could not sample, water frozen

NS = Not sampledNA = Not analyzedTNTC = Too numerous to count

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Contributing factors to a well run and successful organization:

• Clean shop and clean trucks – help to preserve and to better detect leaks and other discrepancies on equipment

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• Strong maintenance program – utilizing equipment to it’s fullest winter maintenance potential greatly reduces the need for salt and other agents

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Employee pride – allow all employees to contribute new ideas and take pride in what they do.

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Public Awareness: Let the public know you’re trying to help them.• Know Snow• Snow Flyer hand out

Thank you!Joey Almond

Lead Equipment OperatorPublic Works – Streets Division

City of Ankeny211 SE Lorenz DriveAnkeny, IA 50021

Ph 515-965-6489 ext. (2)4603Fx 515-289-9120

jalmond@ankenyiowa.gov