ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. – Plows have been busy in St. Charles County, with MoDOT highway signs advising motorists to stay off the roads if they don’t have to be out and about.

Work crews in St. Charles County spent part of their day refilling trucks with salt and calcium chloride before hitting the roads.

They had the salt; plenty of it. But with temperatures at 10 degrees Fahrenheit by midday, it was all frozen.

“We are typically putting down about 200 pounds per lane mile as we plow,” Ted Dunkmann, St. Charles County’s Highway Superintendent, said. “But with temperatures so cold, we won’t put down as much because it’s not as effective and we don’t want to waste our salt.”

Workers had to make sure their systems were unclogged so snowplow drivers could get back out to clear the 36 routes and 1,800 lane miles of roadway across rural and suburban St. Charles County.

“Yeah, obviously, the amount of snow we’ve gotten is quite a bit less. This is a drier and fluffier snow. So, it’s easier to push off,” Dunkmann said. “It is a little bit colder than last time. The lower temperatures, the chemicals don’t work as well. So, it might be a few days to get it completely clear.”

The plow drivers and other crewpersons are working 12-hour shifts, around the clock.

The last heavy snowfall to hit the county at the end of December, Dunkmann said they used about 5,000 tons of salt. For context, he estimates the county only used 3,000 tons last winter.