Georgia Department of Transportation keeps state moving
during winter weather with back-to-back brining operations
By Uyen Le Schneider
W
hen it rains, it
pours. Or in the
case of winter
weather in
Georgia, when it snows, it ices.
For the Georgia Department of
Transportation, this season has
brought an unprecedented number
of winter storms. Within the span
of weeks, four storms hit the state.
GDOT prepares 48-72 hours
in advance of every storm —
prepping brine, salt, equipment,
and personnel.
“What has been somewhat of a
challenge, or been exhausting on
our staff and equipment, has been
the number of events and timeline
of events,” said Bryan Haines,
GDOT director of emergency
operations. “We’ve not had much
time to recover between storms.”
Georgia had an atypical
December snowfall that brought
more than five inches of snow.
Then, on the first day of the new
year, while most people were
enjoying the day off, Haines and
his team were already making
crucial decisions to posture
statewide response to Southeast
Georgia for the forecasted winter
storm. The first step, and one of
the most paramount in Haines’
decision-making, is staying in
constant communication with the
National Weather Service and
receiving their input on forecasted
weather systems. Although there
was some uncertainty at this point
on how storm systems would
develop, Haines and GDOT were
already moving brine trucks down
south to be in place 18-24 hours
ahead of the storm.
On Wednesday evening, Jan. 3,
Materials and Resources - Statewide
• 1,938 employees on-call covering 39,919 lane miles
• 54,030 tons of salt
• 65,460 tons of gravel
• 426 snow removal equipment units (one plow + hopper + truck = one
equipment unit)
• Capacity to store 550,000 gallons of brine
• Can produce 20,000 gallons of brine per hour
• GDOT may relocate district resources to the most needed areas
during an event
20
Southeast Georgia got hit with a
rare winter storm, receiving four to
six inches of snow and ice.
“We’re used to dealing with
hurricanes, not winter weather in
south Georgia,” said Jill Nagel,
GDOT district 5 (southeast
Georgia) communications officer.
“A lot of our guys go and assist in
other districts when we have winter
weather.”
What was unprecedented about
this event was that for the first time,
GDOT crews also went into South
Carolina to help its DOT neighbor.
Road conditions in South Carolina
were causing 20 to 30 mile
backups into Georgia.
“We were able to go into South
Carolina, get ahead of where the
traffic queue was and treat out in
front of it. Georgia State Troopers
were able to help us maneuver the
stranded motorists around where
we could treat and then we were
able to get the traffic flowing,” said
Haines.
In total, GDOT treated
approximately 70 to 80 miles
of South Carolina’s roads. In
addition to the work done in South
Carolina, GDOT crews were
working12 hour shifts in Georgia
starting Wednesday and they
didn’t stop until Saturday.
The following Monday, right
after that ice event, north Georgia
and the Atlanta metro were
forecasted to receive over an
inch of ice. It was the very same
Monday of the National College
Football Championships, the first
day of the state’s legislative session
and President Trump’s visit.
GDOT redeployed all state
resources back up north to treat
roads before the addition of
hundreds of thousands of drivers
coming into the state.
“As soon as I got done making
decisions for southeast Georgia,
I immediately transitioned that
weekend into moving all of the
equipment back up to metro
Atlanta, filling those trucks, and
having those employees and
equipment ready,” said Haines.
A week later, north, central,
and southwest Georgia received
another one to three inches of
snow, which GDOT also handled
to keep the roads cleared and safe.
GDOT’s work doesn’t end after
a storm. The department constantly
procures more brine and calcium
to replenish their supplies. The
department is also adding two
additional salt barns in strategic
locations in south Georgia
enabling them to get quicker
access to the interstates and faster
treatment times.
“Every storm is a new lesson
learned and a new opportunity to
improve,” Haines said.
Through all this winter’s events
combined, GDOT used over
800,000 gallons of brine. To
say GDOT has been busy would
be an understatement. Rain or
shine, snow or ice, they never
stop working for the citizens of
Georgia.
Georgia DOT brining trucks used