Confirming earlier studies by Global Insight, Inc. and Iowa State University (and, doubtless, many others), the Washington State DOT just released a report on a four-day, winter weather closure of Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass last winter with a total economic loss of $28 million.

The study employs new economic impact assessment methods developed by Washington State University's Social and Economic Sciences Research Center seeking "a reality-based, comprehensive analysis of the effects … on the state's freight-dependent industries and the economy as a whole." The study included a survey of trucking firms and freight-dependent businesses. The study found the four-day storm cost 170 people their jobs and those still employed were penalized $8.6 million in lost wages. State tax revenues declined $1.42 million through reduced economic activity. That's one short segment of one road for one storm.

The "first significant import shipment of bulk salt in more than four years" has hit New Orleans, according to the lead story in the October 20 issue of River Transport News. "Industry observers indicated that over the last three weeks, lower Mississippi imports have accelerated with the arrival of several 40,000-ton shipments. Additional shipments are expected." If sustained, the Port of New Orleans "salt imports could approach or exceed record levels." The previous record was set in 2001 and was nearly matched two years later.

The headline, "Booming Salt Demand Adds More Pressure to Barge Freight," tells the corollary story: upriver salt shipments are straining available barge capacity. "It appears that riverborne salt shipments could reach a new record high this year, exceeding the previous record of 9.7 million tons set in 2004," the RTN story reported. They have averaged 8.5 million tons since 1996, the story added. The additional stress is magnified, the story continued.

Under normal circumstances, the projected increase in riverborne salt shipments would cause barely a ripple in the inland barge market. This year, however, salt shipments are being compressed into a significantly shorter shipping window.

Salt shipments into the upper Midwest got an extremely late start this past spring. The heavy snows and severe weather last winter and spring not only resulted in heavy salt usage; it also resulted in the latest opening of the upper Mississippi River to navigation on record. Shipments were further disrupted in May and June as the upper Mississippi River was periodically closed to navigation due to flooding and high water.

When the reporter called for our explanation for the spike in imports, I noted that they seem to reflect the "supply" response to the "demand" signal sent out a couple months ago by Upper Mississippi state DOTs who sought vastly expanded bid amounts of deicing salt. Surprise. Markets work!

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MTO), like most cutting-edge snowfighters in North America, has moved strongly into using liquids in its winter maintenance functions. Among the motivations: reducing the amount of salt used to keep the roadways clear and safe. Unlike many agencies, however, MTO determined to document the benefits achieved by adopting pre-wetting of rock salt and use of salt brine applied directly to roadways ("direct liquid application" or DLA). MTO's chef technology researcher Max Perchanok, reported the agency's findings to the Ontario Good Roads Association's annual Snow and Ice Colloquium yesterday.

MTO's prediction in adopting pre-wetting was that they could achieve the same level of service and save about a third of the salt they applied. An early 1995-99 test using 5% brine achieved a 23% salt reduction and a follow-up study in 2002-03 found that increasing the brine component to 7-15% achieved salt savings of 18% to 40%. As a result, 99% of MTO's (mostly-contractor-operated) fleet now is equipped for pre-wetting. Adoption of pre-wetting was confirmed in another study in 2004-2006 which found an 8% to 30% reduction in granular salt usage.

MTO also moved towards DLA with forecast salt savings of 20% to 30% and all its contractors incorporated DLA into their operations by the wnter of 2005-2006. Confirmatory research, however produced disparate results ranging from no salt savings to savings of 50%. MTO has concluded that it has achieved overall salt reduction, but "salt savings are not confirmed" because of the "highly variable results."

Most surpriing to MTO was the corollary examination of the outcomes of using liquids. Using liquids has allowed the agency to reduce the frequency of salt applications by 17% to 33%. A study in Kenora determined that using liquids reduced the time to achieve bare pavement from an average of 20 hours in 2000 to an average of only 2 hours in 2003 when DLA was implemented. "The level of service improved," MTO concludes. Moreover, a study in Waterloo found a dramatic improvment in crash prevention. Anti-icing with liquids was found far more effective than using pre-wet salt; the study, however, identified only marginal safety improvements in using pre-wet salt which is directly counter to an established relationship in the published research literature that shows performing winter maintenance service slashes crash rates by 85% and injuries by 88%.

In sum, MTO found using liquids improved their operations and, particularly the safety of Ontario highways, achieving a higher level of service and delivering on predicted salt savings, though this latter conclusion was supported only with inconsistent data.

Most issues in the salt industry are invisible to the late-night talk shows and ignored by our cultural arbiters, but the latest flap about the cost and availability of road salt for the coming winter has cut a broad swath. In last night's "The Colbert Report " on the national network Comedy Central, Stephen Colbert, tongue firmly in cheek, called for a return to a salt-based economy as a means of stabilizing the nation's precarious financial condition. "Moving to a salt-based economy is a return to our fiscal roots," he explained.

The price of salt has gotten so high that some cities can't afford enough road salt for the winter and will be forced to de-ice their roads the old fashioned way with global warming. In the last year, salt has gone up from 45 to 79 dollars a ton. A ton of dollars is currently worth two euros. That's why I'm not saying you should invest your money in salt. I'm saying you should convert your money into salt. Moving to a salt-based economy is a return to our fiscal roots. Roman soldiers were paid in salt. It's where we get the word salary which is compensation people get in exchange for doing a job. Ask your parents. Of course, we can't trust our banks anymore, but our salt wealth can be stored in any number of locations.