This Season: Sand and salt supplies looking good ahead of winter

CEDAR RAPIDS - If there's a silver lining to this fall's flood, it's that it left the city with a healthy supply of sand for winter.

'Sand is not a problem,” said Street Superintendent Mike Duffy. 'Second to Cancun, I think we have the biggest sand supply around.”

With a few winter storms already under their belts in recent weeks and the official start of winter just days away, Duffy and Iowa City Street Superintendent Jon Resler said both cities have ample sand and salt on hand to battle wintry weather on roads.

In Cedar Rapids, Duffy said the late September Cedar River surge - which prompted thousands of sandbags and miles of sand-filled barriers - left the city with an ample supply.

'We probably have three years' worth of sand,” he said. 'We don't anticipate having to buy sand this year.”

As for salt, the city has about 6,000 tons of salt on hand and has contracted for another 13,200 tons.

Duffy said the city will use purely salt to treat roads when temperatures are above 30 degrees. When temperatures go lower, the salt loses its effectiveness and the city will go to a half-sand, half-salt mix.

'That takes the melting temperature down below 0,” Duffy said.

Cedar Rapids generally goes through 9,000 to10,000 tons of salt in a winter and 6,000 to 8,000 tons of sand, Duffy said. He said the city tries to be 'conservative” with the application of salt and sand so it doesn't use them up too quickly.

Iowa City has about 2,500 tons of salt on hand with an additional 2,500 tons on order, Resler said. Sand is also 'readily available” from local quarries.

Both cities buy their salt a year in advance, which proved to be to their benefit this winter.

'We had an easy winter last winter and prices were down and good,” Resler said, adding the city paid just under $73.87 per ton of salt. In 2014, salt was $87.71.

Resler said it's unclear what the city will see this winter in terms of weather. He's anticipating colder temperatures, but not necessarily more snow than last year.

'We just do the best we can to prepare,” he said. 'In general, you try to gear up for a typical winter.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com