PLEASE READ THE FINE PRINT: The Butler County Engineer’s Office treats those roads designated as County roads. The BCEO does not maintain city streets, residential and subdivision streets, interstate, U.S., or state routes. Please contact your local city or township, or the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for snow removal information on their road systems.
General Overview (Updated 12/23)
Snow and ice control is one of the most significant winter activities performed by BCEO road crews, especially during a rough winter. The Butler County Engineer’s Office is responsible for keeping 266 centerline miles of County roads safe and passable whenever winter weather strikes. More importantly, the 266-mile figure becomes 611 actual lane miles when turn lanes and three, four, and five-lane roads are factored into the equation. Our crews work hard day and night to treat the roads even in the worst weather conditions — blinding snow, crippling ice, sub-zero temperatures — often sacrificing time away from their families on weekends and holidays. BCEO Snowfighters work 12-hour shifts to keep roads clear by salting or plowing, depending upon current conditions. Sixteen snow and ice control routes and two shifts of 19 employees ensure that every County road is treated quickly and efficiently.
Notes of Interest
- Each truck that leaves the barn has about $1,2,30 worth of material on it including salt and calcium or beet juice brine mix; $19,680 per round for just material.
- A 24-hour event could cause us to go through four truckloads totaling $78,720.
- Each truck is equipped with Automatic Vehicle Locators (AVL).
Salt
- Becomes less effective 15 degrees and dropping. It needs calcium or brine/beet juice mix added in to become more effective in melting the ice and snow.
- Average application is 600-800 lbs. per centerline mile.
- BCEO has a 13,000-ton salt storage facility – 2 barns hold 6,500 tons each.
- Each truck will carry 12 tons. (2023 contract cost for salt is $90.31 per ton.)
Calcium
- Calcium is used to wet salt at the spinner on the truck and is effective to 20 degrees below zero.
- The ratio to salt is 8 to 12 gallons per ton of salt.
- BCEO has 6100 gallons of storage on site; 120 to 218 gallons of storage on each truck.
- Cost is $0.60 to $1.36 per gallon
Brine
- Brine is used as pre-treatment prior to the snow event/storm and is effective from 15 degrees and rising.
- BCEO has five 1800 gallon distributors at a rate of 40 gallons per lane mile to pre-treat.
- It takes about 12 hours to apply 27,000 gallons of brine on our County roads.
- BCEO has 20,500 gallons of liquid storage in the County.
- The brine maker is located at the BCEO garage and can make 2000 gallons per hour.
Beet Juice/Brine Mix
- The beet juice mix can be used in place of calcium. Added to salt at the spinner will help the salt become effective below 15 degrees. The ratio is eight gallons per ton of salt.
- The mix is less corrosive than calcium, but more residue is left on the road.
- The cost is $0.38 to $0.96 per gallon (based on the ratio of brine to beet mix).
