County road crews working overtime to deal with ice

meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document" /><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 10" /><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 10" /><link rel="File-List" href="" /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="" id=ieooui></object> <style> st1\:* &lt;!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; mso-font-alt:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#23435;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#20307;; ; ; ; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0; @font-face ont-family:"\@SimSun"; panose-1:2 1 6 0 3 1 1 1 1 1; ; ; ; mso-font-signature:3 135135232 16 0 262145 0; /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal so-style-parent:""; ; margin-bottom:.0001pt; ; ; font-family:"Times New Roman"; ; @page Section1 11.0in; 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0; div.Section1 --&gt; /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable so-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; ; mso-style-parent:""; 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; ; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; ; ; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; The gravel roads in Southeast Missouri counties are posing a special hazard after a series of freezing rain storms.

Though Cape Girardeau County roads still have a few slick patches, highway administrator Scott Bechtold said his crews started applying coal cinders early Wednesday morning and continued through the day.

He said the county uses the coal cinders, which he said are "somewhat messy" because his department gets them free from Southeast Missouri State University.

"It saved them some money and saved us some money," he said. "We got them for the price of coming to get them. Had we not, they would have had to pay to haul them off, to get them disposed."

John Prance, Stoddard County Emergency management director, said the 13 road districts in his county are reporting intermittent problems."We've got several county roads closed because of vehicles in the ditches and so on. The gravel roads are still kind of slick, as of a couple hours ago. Our blacktop streets are all right for now," he said.He said church services at Dexter Church of Christ are canceled.The demands of two ringing phones and chatter from a two-way radio continually interrupt Scott County Highway Superintendent Norman Brant. He's spending this morning responding to calls from county officials and residents and directing road crews.

By Tuesday evening, half of Scott County 350 miles of road had been salted. Then the rain came, turning into ice overnight. Now, the county's two salt trucks are at work again, with plans for drivers to work well into the night, Brant said.

"It's hard to whup Mother Nature," he said. "The problem is, it's the shaded areas. We had the salt down, but the ice hit us during the middle of the night and now the salt's between two layers of ice. We were in pretty fair shape yesterday."

He said secondary roads are today's top priority.

No cost estimates for the overtime hours were available from any of the counties.

For more on this story, return to semissourian.com or see Thursday's print edition.