Salt For Slippery Roads

LOADING UP: George (Elmer) Bowens, equipment operator, inspects a six-ton truckload of rock salt at the County Road Commission's main yard, preparatory to salting ice-covered roads. In the wake of an average snowstorm, trucks salt 400 miles of main roads with 200 tons of sodium chloride, costing $10 a ton. To the grey mountains of salt (right foreground) are added amounts of sand (white in the picture because of snow) when temperatures drop to a point when salt by itself is ineffective.

SPREADING ON ROAD: Salt sprays from the hopper on the truck's rear-end at a rate of half a ton for each mile of road. Equipment operator George Bowens takes a quick peek at the rate of flow on W. Liberty Rd., three miles west of the city limits of Ann Arbor. To keep roads clear of ice and sleet conditions, Washtenaw county pays $18,000 to $30,000 a winter, depending on the number of snowstorms.