Governor Mike Pence has declared this week, Nov. 15 through 21, as Winter Weather Preparedness Week in Indiana. The Indiana Department of Transportation has been preparing for the upcoming winter season since the snow and ice melted last spring. INDOT’s top wintertime priority is removing snow and preventing ice on more than 11,000 miles of interstates, U.S. highways and state routes.
Last winter, nearly 278,000 tons of granular salt and 5.2 million gallons of salt brine were deployed on state and federal highways. INDOT continues to receive deliveries of salt and already has more than 193,000 tons on hand.
Last winter, INDOT plow trucks logged nearly 5.7 million miles – the equivalent of 228 trips around the earth or 12 round trips to moon.
INDOT continues to add new equipment to its fleet of more than 1,000 plow trucks. A total of 10 “tow plows” will be used this year to clear multi-lane highways. The tow plow and material spreader are pulled behind and to the side of a yellow INDOT plow truck, allowing one driver to clear two lanes at once.
Each yellow plow truck undergoes a full bumper-to-bumper inspection, and mechanics will repair mechanical problems before the first winter storm.
Each yellow plow truck takes 2-3 hours to complete its route with salt assisting in melting between passes. In addition, INDOT has outfitted 50 marked white pickups with plows and material spreaders to clear ramps, intersections and trouble spots.
Last winter, INDOT staff logged 311,000 man hours performing winter operations. Mechanics, salt loaders and radio operators support plow drivers to keep the trucks running around the clock when needed.
