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Innovative MDOT device saves salt and money
Michigan DOT sent this bulletin at 03/11/2016 10:00 AM EST
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016
CONTACT: Nick Schirripa, MDOT Office of Communications, 269-337-3927
Innovative MDOT device saves salt and money
Fast facts:
- MDOT mechanics at the Paw Paw repair facility developed a new way to regulate salt being dropped by plow trucks.
- The salt-door stop is a stainless steel bar that lowers the door to a predetermined and calibrated height, resulting in reducing salt use and saving money.
- The salt-door stop is featured is an "Innovation in a Minute" video on MDOT's YouTube channel:https://youtu.be/KteRe2uwC-s.
March 7, 2016 -- The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) continuously looks for innovative ways to do businesses statewide, helping deliver the highest level of service to the public at the lowest cost. In the MDOT Southwest Region (Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties), two maintenance mechanics have created the "calibrated salt-door stop," a stainless steel bar installed on MDOT plow trucks to help regulate the flow of salt onto state trunkline (I, M and US routes).
Jordan Claus and Ryan Piasecki, mechanics at the MDOT Paw Paw repair facility, created the salt-door stops. At a cost of just $22 each, the bar is attached to the movable gate on salt hoppers, setting a calibrated level for salt release.
"Traditionally, our plow operators have relied on their lines of sight to set the salt doors, resulting in varying door heights and salt use from one operator to the next," said MDOT Southwest Region Engineer of Operations Janine Cooper. "These salt-door stops will eliminate the varying heights of salt doors and allow each operator to simply lower the door to a predetermined and calibrated height, resulting in reducing salt use and saving money."
The device ensures the correct amount of salt – not too much and not too little – is applied, making driving conditions as safe possible, and saving money. Implementation of the innovative $22 device has the potential to save thousands of dollars each winter.
The salt-door stops have been installed on all 80 plow trucks in the Southwest Region, and statewide implementation is possible for next winter.
The calibrated salt-door stop is the subject of the first in a series of videos created by the MDOT Southwest Region. The "Innovation in a Minute" video series will showcase innovative ideas of region employees in an easily understood format. By presenting these innovations in short videos with explanations by the employees who thought of them, other MDOT facilities can adopt these ideas, and the public can learn how the agency is continuously looking for ways to improve its service statewide.
The calibrated salt-door stop video is featured on MDOT's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/KteRe2uwC-s.
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