By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
A $546,000 bond ordinance that would pay for construction of a new road salt storage facility for the Lawrence Township Department of Public Works was given final approval by Township Council last week.
The road salt storage facility would replace the existing “salt dome,” which is outdated and in poor condition, according to township officials. The salt dome, which is about 20 years old, is located at the Department of Public Works facility on Bakers Basin Road.
The new road salt storage facility would look like a barn, and it would be built on the same site as the existing salt dome. Construction will begin in the summer and it will be in place for the winter.
The existing salt dome is not a state-of-the-art facility, Public Works Director Greg Whitehead told Township Council last month. It is very difficult to load the salt onto the trucks from the salt dome, he said, adding that it only holds about 800 tons of road salt.
The rule of thumb is to store double the amount of road salt that would be used during a typical winter, Mr. Whitehead told the council last month. The Department of Public Works uses about 1,500 to 1,600 tons of road salt, but the proposed salt storage facility would hold about 2,000 tons.
Mr. Whitehead said the Department of Public Works used about 3,000 tons of road salt this winter. There were 21 snowstorms and a few “icing” events in which road salt needed to be applied to make the roads safe for motorists.
Municipal Manager Richard Krawczun said a new salt storage facility has been under discussion for several years. It had been placed on the capital projects list in past years, but it was removed for economic reasons.
Mr. Krawczun said the salt storage facility would be included in his recommendations for the 2014 capital improvement budget.
