Innovating Winter Maintenance: Reducing Salt Use and Protecting the Environment with Connie Fortin

The Public Works Nerds

What if you could reduce your reliance on salt and design better, more environmentally friendly winter maintenance strategies? Join us as we chat with Connie Fortin, the Low Salt Strategist at Bolton Mank, who shares her innovative approach to this challenge by collaborating with civil engineers, landscape architects, and planners.
Discover the advancements in winter maintenance techniques and the transition to liquid deicers, including the benefits of using pavement sensors, weather stations, and cutting-edge technology to save salt use. Connie also discusses the challenges of balancing the need for public safety with the goal of reducing salt use and the role of training staff in precision maintenance to achieve this balance.
Lastly, explore Connie's idea of designing roadway infrastructure and developments to accumulate less ice, decreasing the need for deicing naturally.
Don't miss this fascinating conversation with a true innovator in the field of winter maintenance and design.
Further Resources:
Salt Symposium
https://www.bolton-menk.com/resources/salt-symposium/
Designing a Lower Salt Future (article)
https://www.stormwater.com/home/article/33043034/designing-a-lower-salt-future
On The Road to Less Salt Use in Minnesota Cities (article)
https://www.lmc.org/news-publications/magazine/mar-apr-2023/less-road-salt/

Chapters

1. Innovating Winter Maintenance: Reducing Salt Use and Protecting the Environment with Connie Fortin (00:00:00)

2. The Low Salt Strategist (00:00:01)

3. Designing for Winter (00:08:23)

4. Advancements in Winter Maintenance Techniques (00:22:38)

5. Transitioning to Liquid Deicers (00:29:09)

6. Winter Maintenance Liability and Salt Use (00:39:02)

7. Technology and the Salt Symposium (00:44:20)