DANVILLE — Many might not know about all the benefits of beet juice.

It can reportedly help lower blood pressure, increase stamina, aid in digestive problems, build the immune system, strengthen bones and help fight cancer.

Now add Danville to the list this year of municipalities that have been testing an “anti-ice cocktail” of beet juice, brine and calcium chloride to determine its benefits in beating icy roadways.

“It’s a trial with the batch we have,” said Bob Scott, Danville Service and Operations manager.

The city purchased 500 gallons of beet juice at $3.95 a gallon, for a total of $1,975.

Scott said the juice is expensive, but the city will use only about 10 percent of the juice in each mixture for anti-icing purposes only such as on hills, bridges and overpasses. The rest will be 80 percent brine and 10 percent calcium chloride.

“It sticks and stays where it’s put down, and is more effective (than just road salt),” Scott said. He’s read about its benefits and wanted to try it here. It’s also more environmentally friendly.

The concoction of beet juice and salt is kinder to the environment, concrete and metal, and has gotten mostly favorable reviews from a growing number of cities and states to best treat ice- and snow-covered roads.

According to the Associated Press, the beet juice works by lowering the freezing temperature of the brine that’s used to pre-treat roads. And it’s made from a waste product.

Beet juice, however, can be expensive for large usage.

The Illinois Department of Transportation stopped using it for that reason, and because the coffee-colored mix “might have left some sort of film on windshields,” said spokesman Mike Claffey in a 2008 Chicago Tribune article.

In March 2006, the cocktail sparked confusion during the morning rush in Chicago, when people complained about repeated sightings of a brownish stain, substance believed to be motor oil.

Scott said the 500 gallons of the juice should last about four years, depending on how much snow the city receives and if there are on average about 20 “snow events” each year.

“We’ll see how it does” he said.

New equipment

The city also has a new tandem truck with a 240-gallon tank and spray bar attachment for snow operations this year and a new salt dome at its Public Works facility on Voorhees Street.

Public Works employees previously had fabricated a sprayer themselves.

Aldermen accepted a bid from Dome Corporation of America for $201,000 for the construction of the salt-storage facility.

The cost was partially funded by the city’s bond issue, but the city also utilized a couple different revenue streams, according to Danville Public Works Director Doug Ahrens.

“(The salt dome) was always planned as part of the (public works facility) improvements,” Ahrens said.

The city purchased the tandem axle dump truck with snow patrol equipment for $61,583 from Koenig Body & Equipment Inc. of Peoria, after a 1991 vehicle trade-in. Funding came from the sewer fund.

Scott reports that the city’s 14 single-axle or tandem trucks and six one-ton trucks (for cul-de-sacs and other harder to reach areas) are ready to go for the winter.

Instead of steel blades, the trucks have quieter and less damaging polyurethane blades.

“This year we’ve spent a lot of money on the streets …,” Scott added about the asphalt overlay program and the city not wanting to damage the streets with the blades.

Street sweeping operations also have left the streets in about the best shape they’ve been in, Scott said. Normally the leaves can freeze, causing flooding and other issues.

When the city trucks’ plows are up, the department is in salting operation, he said. Once the city receives an inch and half to 2 inches of snow, the department goes into snow plowing operation.

The first job is to attack arterial roads and then make at least one pass down every street. Two passes may be performed depending on the timing of the snow event, Scott said. A fourth truck is being added to the Main/Gilbert street operations this year.

The city has 2,700 tons of salt ready. It had 700 tons in storage and purchased 2,000 this year at a cost of $73 a ton (the same as last year).

With the brine, it can save the city about 20 percent in salt usage.

Scott also suggests that when residents clear their own driveways of snow, they put the snow on the right side of the driveway when facing the street.

That way, the city’s snow plows won’t plow snow back on resident’s driveways.

Also, due to safety issues, he advises traffic traveling behind the city’s plows to stay at least 50 feet back. And for residents living on streets without curbs, Scott recommends purchasing reflectors to help identify driveways and yards to help public works employees see the area better.

“During the winter, our eyes are on the radar,” Scott said. “We want to be more aggressive getting out there…”

He said of the various winter season predictions, the employees root for the best, driest prediction, but prepare for the worst.

FYI

The city has 543 lane miles of streets, but 785 plow miles to clear all streets of snow.