Since the Kenai Peninsula received enough snow to plow over the weekend, drivers may see a new tool being used by the Department of Transportation: tow-plows.
Jill Reese with the DOT said the plows are actually a double axle trailer.
Reese: “So there’s a blade on there that can be steered from the cab of a regular plow truck, so that it actually looks like there’s two trucks and one of them has slipped sideways but it’s actually operating the way it’s supposed to that way the truck’s blade can clear 11 feet on the left side of the road while it’s angled out at a 30 degree angle and then its blade can clear an additional 13 feet on the right side.”
She said that an additional function being used for ice pack on the roads is a brine, or saltwater solution.
Reese: “Each truck carries two 1,000 gallon tanks with spray bars, so you’ll see the trucks on the road both when there’s snow and when there’s not snow, when they’re deicing the roads. So that’s probably what you’ll be seeing over the next few days as I understand you’re weather’s going to be going toward the rainy side.”
Whether sanding, brining, or tow plowing, drivers should give the truck operators adequate distance.