Superior Invests in New Snow Removal Equipment

New sander trucks and the chemical potassium acetate are expected to make snow removal more efficient

SUPERIOR, Wis. – New snow plows have arrived in Superior just in time for winter.

The city spent nearly a million dollars on the trucks and a new chemical compound used for melting show.

Superior officials tell us their brand new equipment is expected to make snow removal faster and more efficient across the city.

Three new sander trucks now rest outside the Municipal Service Building on Hill Avenue. The vehicles use front discharge technology to lay down salt and other materials on roads.

The city’s public works superintendent tells us the new technology allows the plows to cover an entire street with treatments on each pass they make.

“We’re going to be able to go farther with a load of salt, we’re going to be able to make more passes on the roads, we’re going to be able to get things cleared off more quickly, less stops here to fill up with salt so that keeps us on the road that much further,” said Nathan Johnstad, Superior’s public works superintendent.

For the first time ever, Superior will use potassium acetate on roads. Officials tel us the chemical can melt snow at temperatures as low as forty-five degrees below zero.

Plus, they say it doesn’t corrode sidewalks and vehicles, or have an impact on native plant life.

“Now we can put down sand and salt much faster using half as much salt as we ever have in the past and we’ll be able to use this new substance that doesn’t impact the surrounding area nearly as much and sometimes not at all,” said Superior Mayor Jim Paine.

In total, the city spent nearly a million dollars on the new gear, paid for out of the Capital Improvement Plan.

Leaders say that cost will be worth it to make snow removal faster and more environmentally friendly.