With winter weather in the forecast, Knox County Engineering & Public Works is preparing its fleet for colder days ahead. Knox County’s Highway’s Department has approximately 4,000 tons of road salt ready for use. Because rainfall is predicted ahead of the anticipated wintery weather, the effectiveness of brine pre-treatment will be limited.  However, the department will have brine trucks on standby if needed. All salt and brine machinery has been tested, and 11 salt trucks and 11 brine trucks are ready for service.

Over the past couple of years, Knox County’s Highway Department has been using brine on major roadways and trouble spots during the winter.  The brine system includes three 1,600 gallon tanks mounted on tandem-axle dump trucks and eight 1,000 gallon tanks used with single-axle dump trucks.

Salt brine is a liquid mixture of salt and water that is applied to roadways to stop snow from sticking to pavements.

Prior to and during any winter precipitation, the on-call supervisors monitor road conditions in the county and communicate with authorities to determine necessary precautions.

During winter storms, residents should stay off the roads whenever possible until crews have cleared the snow. Workers will start clearing main thoroughfares and known problem areas first, and then move on to complaints and secondary roads.

Depending on the severity of the weather, Knox County has a fleet of dump trucks equipped with snow plows, salt spreaders and brine tanks ready for dispatch. The county also has a dozen four-wheel-drive trucks equipped with smaller snow plows for use on more narrow roads.