Columbia, SC (WLTX) — The South Carolina Department of Transportation's district office located in Richland said plows and salt tanks are already on the trucks ready to go if needed.
District One of the SCDOT overlooks five counties including Richland, Kershaw, Sumter, Lexington and Lee.
At the ‘Mega-Dome’ in District One is roughly 4,000 tons of salt ready to prevent ice from forming on the roads.
If you're wondering if that's enough for the Midlands then you should know that through Sunday afternoon, the entire state used just more than 4,000 tons of salt altogether.
So far, they haven't had to use any of Richland's, but they're keeping an eye on wintry weather expected over the next few days.
SCDOT maintenance engineer Alan Kozusko said they're ready to respond to frozen roads across the Midlands.
“Yes, absolutely, we have people staged at our shop yards, we have the equipment already prepared and loaded ready to go in case we do get any calls. We have monitors that are out right now, which are typically foremen of our crews,” Kozusko said.
The monitors use infrared thermometers to check surface temperatures on roadways and bridges.
“Any kind of 35, 34 degrees, 33 degrees on the surface. Typically, 35 is when we like to start to take action,” he added.
On Thursday afternoon, temperatures were ranging from 39 to 37 degrees on Midlands’ roads and bridges, according to Kozusko.
But, District One already completed pre-treating to roadways in Northern Kershaw, northern Richland, and parts of Lexington counties.
Kozusko said they're hoping Monday night's weather works in their favor.
“We're not expecting freezing temperatures along with the precipitation. Now, we're still have freezing temperature so that's why we still have people on call to respond to anything just in case that there's still some water or moisture on the roads that will freeze and tend to provide black ice,” he warned.
District One will remain on heightened call through Tuesday morning, which means they’ll be in the office and on the roads at all hours to respond quickly if needed.