We commend all those agencies committed to best practices of winter maintenance, including using the Sensible Salting approach for snow and ice control. The public expects effective winter maintenance. Effective winter maintenance delivers timely and reliable roadway clearing, protecting drivers against the risks of winter snow- and ice-storms, sensitive to public concerns that tax dollars be spent wisely and the environment protected. Most agencies use their own personnel; some use contractors for some or all of the work. Good training is important to instill the principles of Sensible Salting for all operators, no matter who signs their paycheck. Sensible Salting emphasizes getting the most from every application of salt while maintaining the safest roads possible in the most economical way and protecting the environment.
Proper spreading of road salt, improved equipment, calibration of spreaders, automatic spreader controls, road weather information systems, adequate covered storage and relocation of some stockpiles have combined to make salting of roads the most effective and safest method for snow and ice control. Salt is a necessary and accepted part of our winter environment to assure safety and mobility for the individual motorists, school buses, commercial vehicles and, especially, ambulances, fire engines and other emergency equipment. Delays in reaching victims or getting them to hospitals often is the critical difference between life and death.
While providing safety and essential mobility, the modern snowfighter must be concerned as well with safeguarding our environment. Environmental problems concerning use and storage of salt need not exist if there is a balanced approach to use of salt for snow and ice control -- one that demonstrates care for the environment as well as for safety and mobility of people.
Winter maintenance procedures are constantly changing. Current practices will be improved and new techniques perfected. But it is unlikely there will ever be a material as efficient, as inexpensive, as safe or as plentiful as sodium chloride, ordinary salt, for removing ice and snow from roads in winter. Therefore, snowfighters need information on the latest and best procedures and techniques for combating winter storms. This training program will help snowfighters give the public the most effective snow and ice control program possible and, therefore, safe winter roads at the least overall cost.
The Salt Institute has been providing Sensible Salting snowfighter training for 40 years. We have designed materials for the use of trainers at LTAP Centers and trainers working directly for public works agencies or private snowfighting contractors. Trainers, particularly in Canada, may also wish to review the Transportation Association of Canada's free downloadable salt management Learning Guide designed to teach operators and supervisors how to follow TAC's nine Syntheses of Best Practices for managing highway salt; its lessons have international value. TAC has prepared a free online train-the-trainer guide on how to use its training materials. Operations managers may wish to use some of the training materials produced by the American Public Works Association or identified by the NLTAPA listserv as resource materials for trainers or an FHWA videotape on anti-icing training, the National Highway Institute Road Weather Management Course or the MPCA Road Salt Education Program. Additional materials or customer services may be available from your salt supplier.
Salt Institute training materials
Snowfighter's Handbook (pdf 1.93 MB) (40th anniversary issue issued November 2007)
This is the "bible" of snowfighter training. It includes discussions on
The downloads are free (pdf 1.93 MB) . We can also provide single print copies free and bulk copies @ $1 plus shipping.
The Snowfighters (video)
A comprehensive training video for use by showfighters, whose job it is to keep traffic safely moving when snow and ice make that job very difficult. Explains basics of snow removal, equipment preparation and maintenance, salt application rates, salt vs. abrasives, snow & ice and fuel consumption, history and uses of salt, etc. in a very informative, interesting manner. Updated July 1999. See sample clips: 3.77 MB 4.26 MB
Note: a French-language version of The Snowfighters video, A Bas La Neige, is also available.
PowerPoint Winter Maintenance Training Presentations (with supporting handouts)
Produced in conjunction with the National LTAP Association (NLTAPA), the Salt Institute offers free downloads of four snowfighter training programs in MS PowerPoint:
Each has a trainers outline:
And there are three associated handout materials, available in both MS Word and PDF formats:
If you want the convenience of having these training materials available without downloading them, we also offer a set of two CDs containing these materials, plus an additional PowerPoint presentation on "Operations" which is too large for downloading because it has so many embedded video clips. The 2-CD set also includes our most popular snowfighting publications (all free downloads from this site): Snowfighter's Handbook, Salt Storage Handbook, Snowball Snowfighter, Highway Salt and Our Environment and other valuable winter maintenance materials. Before using these materials, trainers should review these instructions.
Salt and Highway Deicing newsletter
Deicing Salt Facts (pdf 16.54 MB)
This 4-page multi-colored fact sheet covers common questions asked about deicing salt, includes storage, environmental protection, corrosion, safety benefits, and potholes. Available in bulk at $30/hundred.
Salt Storage Handbook (pdf 4.99 MB)
A guide for handling and storing deicing salt. Dozens of storage ideas. Revised 2006. A larger-sized file suitable for printing (pdf 2.21 MB) is available. Three-page summaries are available in English (pdf 2.05 MB) and French (pdf 3.10 MB) .
Salt Versus Abrasives (pdf 2.18 MB)
This brochure outlines comparative advantages of straight salt over abrasives. Also available in French (pdf 2.60 MB) .
Weighing Your Deicer Choice (pdf 314.19 kB)
TRB has published a useful tool for winter maintenance professionals to provide an objective, locally-prioritized tool to choose the appropriate deicing chemical. This is found in the NCHRP 577 Report .
Useful working documents