Background

Bulk salt is stored using various methods. Generally, "Bin & Hoop" setups are placed on sites 500K FT² or larger. This allows CERES buckets to scoop and salt directly. These bins require hoops to shield the salt from rain and to reduce incidents of tarps blowing off the salt pile, in line with the written Amazon SOW. On smaller sites, we may use 40' watertight sea containers. In this case, we deploy smaller 1-ton CERES buckets mounted to skid loaders that can enter the sea container.

Additional precautions should be considered depending on the pitch and grade of the storage area. Operations should determine whether erosion tubes/socks are needed to further protect the site from run-off. Note that "run-off" refers to significant material displacement; minor leaching is not considered "run-off" by industry standards.

East Coast Facilities uses standardized salt bin infrastructure: an XL Bin (18×24') with an engineered hoop structure, or a standard 40' × 8' × 8'6" sea container. Setup for an XL Bin costs approximately $7,000–$10,000 in direct costs (including materials), plus 45 man-hours of one-time setup labor. Setup for a standard 40' sea container, including shipping and one-time placement, costs $2,500–$4,000 per unit.

ECF personnel must work with Amazon personnel to identify a semi-permanent location for these structures. They should remain in place for the duration of our engagement. If local stakeholders require the XL Bin, sea container, or the bulk salt in dry storage to be relocated off-site during the offseason, additional charges will apply. These are billed on a time-and-materials basis per our Master MWO with Amazon GPO, and equivalent charges recur in the fall when the unit and material are returned and repositioned.

Installation of a Semi-Permanent Salt Bin

What is a CERES bucket?

A CERES bucket is an ECF proprietary engineered salting bucket. It mounts on our large 3.5-ton wheel loaders and can scoop and salt in a single pass, eliminating the need for expensive salting trucks and their associated drivers. This reduces Amazon's costs by maximizing heavy equipment utilization. 

Please see Amazon Snow Removal SOW

It is recommended that a balanced approach be taken when examining chloride impacts from minor leaching of salt piles. Minor leaching from salt piles represents a fraction of a fraction of the chlorides that enter the stormwater system compared to the impact of actual salting operations, all of which enter the stormwater system and surrounding watershed. Aerial imagery of salted sites illustrates true "run-off" from necessary deicing applications.