Innovative possible solution to icy problem

KDOT Mechanic Curtis Watts with the brine bar he crafted as part of a pilot project.

You could call it a salty solution to a big challenge: A pilot project to possibly modify KDOT plow trucks – at low cost – to efficiently treat Sedgwick County roads with brine so traffic can move safely in snow and ice.

The request came from David Lechner, Maintenance Superintendent for the Wichita Metro.

The innovative potential solution came from a veteran KDOT mechanic, Curtis Watts. He built it, with among other things, about $30 worth of PVC pipe and less than $8 in auto-parts-store exhaust clamps.

Lechner, one of Watts’ supervisors, put it this way: “To be able to pre-treat the whole town (Wichita metro) in a few hours is the whole goal. … Curtis put all this together.”

Ask Watts how he designed it, he says, “Just in my head.” The Equipment Mechanic Senior can draw on his 35 years of KDOT know-how.

The nozzles attach/detach with simple clamps.

KDOT gave him room to create. “We felt like we had the freedom to do whatever (was needed), and I just passed it on to Curtis,” Lechner said.

The idea was to build something workable at a lower cost than a manufacturer’s price.

The goal is to have the option to spread brine and salt on one truck. “With the new brine bars, we can treat Sedgwick County roads with brine and/or salt in half the time without any new major equipment purchases,” said Dave Bohnenblust, District Five Maintenance Engineer. “We also can switch from a brine treatment to a salt treatment or do both from the same truck.”

As far as spreading brine, “Why not use PVC?” the thought went. It’s inexpensive, easy to work with, easy to repair.

In a day, Watts crafted a brine spreader bar out of inch-and-a-half PVC, in a straight line that bends out at both capped ends to fully distribute the liquid. He drilled holes spaced for 12 nozzles. They spray down in a cone shape and angled out to the side, on the back of a truck. It treats two lanes in one pass. For nozzles, he used stainless steel ones used in agriculture and available online. The nozzles attach/detach with simple clamps. He picked standard auto exhaust pipe clamps to attach the bar.

Watts and his team also found a bigger pump to bring brine from 400-gallon saddle tanks on either side of the truck.

A button in the cab activates it all. Equipment Operator Senior Tim Kyle demonstrated the cold-weather system as others on the brine-bar team, including Shop Supervisor Shane Stubbs, watched at the Wichita area office.

The brine-bar set-up worked fine last winter, Watts noted. The brine bar has been installed on four trucks; three of the trucks are being equipped with other components to complete the system. And all four trucks will be rolling this winter, Lechner said.

As far as cost, the whole new brine-bar system comes to about $1,500 per vehicle, with the biggest portion going to the pump and electric valve. Watts gave an itemized breakdown in perfectly neat handwriting: $1,389.35 plus PVC, fittings and hoses, for the total of around $1,500, which seemed to be a relatively low-cost addition to a $170,000 truck.

The new brine system can be used with salting and plowing and allows KDOT to treat more in less time, which is crucial for Wichita metro traffic flow, Lechner said.

KDOT’s Bureau of Maintenance has reviewed the brine bar pilot project, and with revisions it could be part of an improved system for treating roadways.

“This is just something we did to help our work situation” – and to protect motorists, Lechner said. “That’s our job.”