Springdale Public Works Department Seeks Building

SPRINGDALE -- The city's Public Works Department could've run out of salt and grit last winter had more snow and ice fallen. Officials hope to make sure that doesn't happen in the future.

Officials want to a building to store salt and grit, said Sam Goade, director of public works. A proposal forwarded to the City Council would allow the department to buy a metal truss building with a fabric roof. Councilmen will consider it Tuesday.

The building will play a role in the department's winter treatment program, Goade said. Officials created the program because of last winter's weather and the large quantities of ice and snow it brought to the region.

The 4,000-square-foot building will cost $151,556, and the money will come from public works funds, Goade said. Officials hope to have the building finished by this winter, or the following winter at the latest.

The structure will allow the city to increase salt storage from 50 tons to 500 tons, Goade said. The structure also will have room to store 500 tons of grit.

Most departments in the country dealing with winter weather use indoor facilities to store salt and grit, said Dave Bergner, a member of the Winter Maintenance Subcommittee of the American Public Works Association. Weather can affect salt and grit stored outdoors.

Salt and grit is stored outside in Springdale, on top of concrete with tarps over the salt, Goade said. The tarps quickly degrade in the sun, and rain causes grit to clump.

Rain water also can get into the salt if there are holes or tears in the tarps, Bergner said. Clumped salt and grit can clog and damage equipment. It needs to be broken up before use, which can delay treating streets.

The new building will be next to the recycling center near the corner of Lowell Road and Randall Wobbe Lane, said Tim Burton, concrete foreman for the Public Works Department.

The walls of the building will be concrete instead of metal, because the salt could corrode metal, Goade said. The ceiling will be made of a metal truss, which will be treated so it won't corrode. Fabric, one-half an inch to three-fourths of an inch thick, will be stretched over the top. The truss should last 50 years, and the fabric should last 10.

The department will use five trucks to spread salt and grit, up from three, Goade said. The city had three snow plows last winter and now has seven.

Officials expanded their routes to include some highways previously only treated by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, Goade said. The Highway Department will have access to the city's electronic tracking system to see if a highway has been treated.