BREAKING THE ICE\Road treatment heartens truckers.

Byline: James J. Rodriguez Daily News Staff Writer

Time is money for trucker Tom Brewer, whose bank account dwindles when snow and ice close the Grapevine.

So news that Caltrans has begun spraying the mountainous reaches of the Golden State (5) and Antelope Valley (14) freeways with a de-icing chemical won high praise Wednesday from the Hayward-based truck driver.

"Down time for us is death," Brewer said during a lunch break at a Castaic truck stop. "Anything they can do to help us keep our wheels turning needs to be implemented."

Brewer has driven on roads in Oregon that have been sprayed with C.G. 90, a de-icing chemical that the state Transportation Department is using instead of closing roads while workers plow snow and spread salt and gravel.

"What you have is a real surface to drive on," Brewer said Wednesday during a break at a Castaic truck stop. "It's not the fake surface like gravel, sand and salt gives you."

Brewer said he hoped Caltrans officials would use the de-icing chemical regularly when snow falls on local highways.

Road workers first used the C.G. 90 - magnesium chloride - on Saturday when snow blanketed the I-5 near Gorman. C.G. 90 is manufactured by Morgan and Emultech in Redding and has been used in 14 other states.

When applied, the chemical seeps into the cracks in a roadway and "acts like an antifreeze." It keeps falling snow from sticking to the ground and prevents ice from building up, according to Jerry Holcombe, a Caltrans area superintendent.

Until now, when highways iced over during freezing temperatures, Caltrans crews have plowed the roads and spread a mixture of sand, cinders and salt onto the roads. The time-consuming process often crippled interstate commerce and delayed travelers.

The process is already a hit with California Highway Patrol officers, who escort traffic through the snowy passes, and truckers, who rely on open roads to make money.

"That is really our goal here, to keep traffic moving," said Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli. "I-5 is extremely important to interstate commerce and Highway 14 is important to skiers. C.G. 90 is certainly helping us reach that goal."

On Saturday, road workers, used a specially equipped truck to spray about 2,500 gallons of the chemical over 14 miles of I-5 and seven miles of Highway 14 in the Agua Dulce area.

"This reduced the need to snowplow and inconvenience traffic," Tiritilli said.

"It actually worked really well," Holcombe said. "You could see the white snow on the shoulder of the roadway. But on the roadway, there was no ice buildup. So far, we've had good results with it."

With more rain in the forecast, Caltrans crews returned Wednesday to spray the highways.

A decision to use the chemical is made after Caltrans' weather sensor system - known as the Surface Condition Analyzer - predicts snow at 4,500 feet or freezing temperatures.

And because there are not as many products being used to de-ice highways, Caltrans officials said the new system is saving money. The chemical costs 50 cents a gallon, Tiritilli said.

Besides being environmentally safe, Holcombe said C.G. 90 is also less damaging to vehicles. Unlike salt, which corrodes the undercarriages and fenders of vehicles, C.G. 90 is noncorrosive.

And with the success of the chemical so far, Holcombe said Caltrans officials are already considering purchasing more C.G. 90.

"It worked really well last weekend," said CHP Officer Wendy Moore, who said there weren't a lot of traffic accidents when snow fell on I-5. "We had no problems whatsoever after they used it."

About the only problem CHP officers had was in a rest area, where Caltrans workers didn't spray the chemical.

"In Fort Tejon, the CHP office up there started getting calls up there about cars sliding and crashing," Moore said. "A sergeant on duty that day said it was like an ice rink up there."

Caltrans officials said they are looking into spraying the chemical not only on highways and on and off ramps, but in the rest areas as well.

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PHOTO

Photo (1--color) Caltrans vehicles spray a chemical anti-icing compound onto the southbound Golden State (I-5) Freeway near Gorman on Wednesday. (2--color in SAC edition only) Nozzles mounted on Caltrans trucks are spraying a de-icer onto roadways for the first time in California. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News