The city of Longueuil, the fifth largest in the province of Quebec is always looking for ways to maintain the safety and usability of its roadways as efficiently as possible during difficult winter weather conditions.  Hot-dip galvanizing was once again key to success in this quest.  

While many cities in Quebec already benefit from galvanized de-icing spreaders a new idea was surfacing that was up till now beyond the reach of Hot-Dip.  Like most cities that regularly experience winter road conditions different solutions are needed to deal with icy roads; along with traditional salt, most jurisdictions also use sand, grit, special ultra-low temperature melting agents as well as blends of these solutions. A real challenge is switching from one product to another as conditions demand.

A new generation of de-icing machines offer better solutions using the basic concept of roll-off dumpsters; instead of permanently bolting on a salt spreader onto the frame of a truck these new units are loaded up onto a roll-off truck chassis in moments.  The advantages are substantial; a truck can be converted from a de-icing spreader to a dump truck in a minute, the spreader can be emptied of one de-icing product and be refilled with another in just a moment by tipping the spreader vertically.  They can also keep a variety of spreaders preloaded with different de-icing materials for rapid deployment of changing road and weather conditions.

The challenge for galvanizing was to overcome the inherent distortion issues in such a complex welded assembly.  The roll-off system needs very true shapes to avoid malfunction.

The city, the fabricator and the galvanizer worked together to optimize the design to make it compatible with the thermal realities of galvanizing.  No less than six trial units were galvanized.  The galvanizer took advantage of its highly computerized process control systems to rigidly control every key aspect of the dipping process to ensure consistently repeatable results.

A high degree of cooperation between all parties and advanced galvanizing control technology made this project a success and the potential markets are now very substantial.  These new highly effective de-icing spreaders can now enjoy the long-life and rugged durability offered by galvanizing, another win-win for motorists, taxpayers and our industry!