WSDOT mini-sanders

WSDOT's new mini-sanders got their first shot at action Wednesday, Dec. 29 with a couple Community Transit buses.

The buses were unable to get enough traction to make it up the 128th St. ramp in south Everett at 7 a.m. and then the 164th St. ramp in Mill Creek at 8:30 a.m. (No fault of CT, the snow just came in fast and hard!)

Our new mini-sanders moved in and were able to put enough sand/salt mix under the drive wheels to get the buses moving again.

After the Thanksgiving week snowstorm, our maintenance teams got together to try to figure out what we could do to get in front of these collisions. The large sanding trucks were too large to scoot by stopped traffic. As part of our plan, WSP troopers move in first with sirens and lights to get drivers to move over. Troopers are followed by the mini-sanding trucks which are able to spot treat to get vehicles moving again.

This was a huge win for the employees who came up with this idea and for the drivers who were able to get where they were going.

Too see how the eight new mini-sanders work, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/wsdot#p/u/0/Pw06UT5FsYU.

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News & Politics

Tags:

• WSDOT
• mini-sanders
• snow
• ice
• I-5