As winter officially begins tomorrow, the Georgia DOT reminds Atlantans that the Maintenance and Construction employees and their equipment are already prepared for any winter weather we may see this year. Below are a few facts and figures on those preparations:

Georgia DOT is prepared and equipped to ensure the safety of our roadways this winter.  Across the affected parts of the state, nearly all Georgia DOT personnel will be on call.  Approximately 2,650 Georgia DOT maintenance and construction employees will be on active duty across the state.

The Equipment

· Tandem trucks and dump trucks with snowplows attached to the front to push the snow and ice from the roadways.
· Tandem trucks and dump trucks with hopper spreaders or tailgate spreaders attached to the rear to distribute the salt mixture used for de-icing the roads.
· Tandem trucks or dump trucks with both salt/rock spreaders and snowplows attached.
· Tractor type motor graders for moving snow.
· Chainsaws for removing trees and branches from the roadway.

Snow and Ice Removal

· Keeping the roads safe for emergency vehicles is our first priority.
· Interstates are cleared first, and then state routes from the most heavily traveled to the least traveled.
· The most common de-icing mixture is a 3:1 ratio of small ‘89 stone’ and sodium chloride (salt). It is affective in breaking up ice and snow until temperatures drop below 25 degrees.
· If temperatures dip below 25 degrees, calcium chloride is added to the stone/salt mixture.
· The tandem dump trucks mounted with spreaders can carry approximately 8 to 12 tons of the de-icing mixture.
· The Georgia DOT will bring in crews and equipment from other offices to help with a particularly hard-hit area whenever necessary.
· The tandem trucks and dump trucks are refueled constantly during a storm to prevent any lag time in the crews completing their routes.

General Preparedness

· The Georgia DOT maintains a staging area in each county. These county maintenance buildings each stockpile salt, fine gravel, fuel and any supplies needed for emergencies.
· The Georgia DOT’s Highway Emergency Response Operators (HEROs) will be monitoring traffic along I-85, I-75, I-20 and I-285 in the metro Atlanta area in order to assist motorists with car trouble or to help clear accidents and stalls from the roadway.
· In the metro Atlanta area, the traffic operators at the Transportation Management Center in southeast Atlanta constantly monitor the traffic cameras along the interstates looking for signs that roads are icing up and relay those locations to the maintenance office.
· Communications personnel across the state will be at the Transportation Management Center and the district offices to provide constant updates to the media.
· We monitor all local weather reports on television and radio, in addition to receiving regularly updated weather information from national sources.

Safety Tips

· Motorists should not pass a DOT dump truck spreading the salt/stone mixture, as stones may get kicked up at their cars and could break windshields. Please follow at least 100 feet behind DOT vehicles.
· Motorists need to be mindful of Georgia DOT crews working to clear the snow and ice from interstates and state routes.
· SLOW DOWN at least half your normal speed and use a low gear as you drive.
· If you come to a traffic signal that is not working, treat it as a four-way stop.
· Beware of black ice, especially on bridges and watch for fallen trees or power lines.

Statewide, the GDOT has:

· Approximately 2650 employees on call
· Approximately 34,000 tons of gravel
· Approximately 24,710 tons of rock salt.
· Approximately 752 pieces of snow removal equipment
· Approximately 350 snow plows
· Approximately 350 fine gravel and salt spreaders

In District 1, Northeast Georgia, specifically, GDOT has: 
· over 360 employees on call
· 108 snow plows
· 42 Hopper Spreaders
· 61Tailgate Spreaders
· 5,100 tons of salt
· 4,500 tons of gravel