Behind the brine: How Danville Public Works prepares roads for snow

DANVILLE, Va. (WDBJ) - As snow falls across our hometowns, you’ll probably see crews out working to keep the roads safe, but there are also people you won’t see who are part of the mix.

The Danville Public Works crew has been working hard to create brine, a special solution to keeping the roads safe.

It’s a mixture of salt and water, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the ones making it, like Steve Flippen.

“We got water that comes into the back where we empty the salt,” said Steve Flippen, Public Works General Supervisor. “There’s a water line that runs across the back of the machine that stirs the salt up. It then filters through into this bin, which re spins to make the brine.”

The machine produces around 5,000 gallons of brine per hour, averaging between 25,000 and 30,000 gallons per storm.

Flippen says while it is mostly automated, they have to make sure it runs properly and maintains the salinity levels.

“We have to make sure that we keep the screens clean and keep it fed with salt about every 5,000 gallons or so. We also have to clean out the sediment in the bottom of it,” added Flippen.

The brine they make is then transferred into trucks to be sprayed onto the roads.

“Putting brine down gives us a big jumpstart for keeping the snow and ice from freezing to the road,” said Jonathan Sharp, Division Director of Streets. ”It doesn’t do the job of melting snow, it helps make plowing the roads up easier, because the snow and ice isn’t stuck to the road.”

Danville Public Works has trucks stationed all over different parts the city so they can clear roads as quickly and efficiently as possible.