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Elsinore Salt Storage Facility

Salt: The Spice of Ice The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is making use of a new, state-of-the-art salt storage facility that enhances winter maintenance operations and provides environmental protection for patrol yards. Located at the Elsinore patrol yard near Owen Sound, the fully contained structure facilitates more effective storage and handling of de-icing materials while minimizing environmental impacts.

Ever since environmental concerns were identified with the storage and handling of road salt at patrol yards, good housekeeping practices have reduced salt runoff into the environment. In an attempt to explore a new approach to containing off-site road salt losses, the ministry tendered for the design and construction of a facility that is capable of storing and handling all de-icing materials, housing the winter maintenance vehicles' washing facility, and collecting the wash water, all indoors.

Using a fully covered connection, the facility was constructed alongside the existing sand dome, eliminating the need for a total rebuild of the storage area. A concrete wall separates the material storage area from the heated wash/loading bay. This is the only area of the facility that the spreaders enter. Since only loaders enter the material storage areas, the material's exposure to the elements is minimized.

The wash bay is 0.75m lower than the rest of the facility, enabling all liquid runoff to be diverted into holding tanks below ground, rather than onto the patrol yard or surrounding properties. The wash bay also stores liquid chemicals used in de-icing, which allows for easy loading of the spreaders and also eliminates environmental damage, should a storage tank leak. Another feature of the new structure is that salt delivery trucks can unload their material directly into the material storage area without exposing the salt to the elements. The overall concept employed at Elsinore is an efficient means of material delivery, vehicle loading, and vehicle cleaning, all in a covered building, a feature that few other facilities have.

The environmental benefit of this fully enclosed facility is that surrounding vegetation remains unharmed. In fact, since material loss at this facility has been minimized, last winter the patrol yard pavement area actually required an application of salt for the first time ever.

The fully contained storage and loading concept is a future direction of MTO. The ministry has been installing various types of covered delivery/vehicle loading structures over the last few years, in addition to the Elsinore facility. In addition, the ministry is exploring the feasibility of removing contaminants from wash water and utilizing the remaining liquid to produce salt brine, which can be used to enhance the effectiveness of rock salt that is applied to the highways.

Enhancements to current designs may include lowering the structure's roof from its current height of thirty feet to reduce costs in materials and construction, while still allowing material delivery, handling and loading to occur under cover. Maintenance staff find the facility easy to use and are very supportive of the initiative. The Elsinore storage facility reflects MTO's continuous drive to improve upon best management practices in the storage and handling of de-icing materials and lessen environmental impacts.