Amman municipality adds 17 salt spreaders to its winter fleet

AMMAN — Seventeen salt spreader trucks will be put into service  this winter to sprinkle salt to melt ice and snow on roads across the capital, according to the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM).

The salt spreaders are part of the municipality’s winter service fleet which also includes loaders, heavy duty pickup vehicles, water pumps and snowploughs which will be deployed to keep roads open during snowstorms, GAM Spokesperson Izz Eddin Shammout said on Sunday.

“The municipality used to own only two salt spreaders, and most of the salt sprinkling on the capital’s roads used to be done manually,” Shammout told The Jordan Times.

“The process will become faster and more efficient now that there are 17 heavy duty salt spreaders that can also clear snow,” he said.

The salt will be spread during snow or during freezing temperatures to de-ice slippery roads, Shammout said, noting that the salt will be mixed with sand to ensure it sticks to the snow or ice and make the de-icing process faster.

Manaseer Group, a major oil company in the Kingdom, distributed last month bags of salt free of charge to Ammanis in preparation for potential snowfall during winter. A total of 500,000 kilogrammes of salt were bagged, each containing 50 kilogrammes. 

Meanwhile, Shammout noted that GAM has prepared 10 loaders to remove snow and will also be using for the first time three six-inch pumps to extract water from tunnels, adding that the municipality has also ordered an eight-inch water pump. 

He said that during rain and snow, the municipality will deploy technical teams to prevent water from blocking the capital’s tunnels by pumping out water, while the Traffic Department will close down tunnels during heavy rain.