Maintenance Division

• Since our changeover from incandescent lighting to LED traffic signal lighting we have benefited immensely on energy cost savings and fuel savings as well. A typical signal head prior to 2002 averaged 405 watts of power PER signal head. After the changeover to LED that average slips to 57 watts for the same traffic signal head. A substantial savings as one can see.
• Fuel savings add up as well, we had to respond to scheduled maintenance issues, re-lamping of incandescent lamps every 12 -24 months for approximately 3 weeks out of every year while vehicles idled at every intersection. That has not happened since the City has retrofitted with LED inserts. The actual inserts are guaranteed to last 5 years and most likely 7 -10 years. The fuel savings add up.
• Our traffic signal heads themselves have been changed over from aluminum construction to 25% recycled poly carbonate material as well.
• Pavement markings have been reformulated to use water-borne pigments instead of harmful alkyd and banned solvent based thinners. The glass bead material we use for reflectorizing pavement markings is being made from 100% recycled glass products as well.
• We are investigating using LED technology for parking lot and decorative lighting in the downtown areas.
• We are now looking at utilizing recycled materials for our signal cable insulation, parking lot bumper dividers and recycled aluminum materials to manufacture our traffic signs.
• In the Mechanics Bay our used oil & antifreeze is stored for a company to pickup for recycling.
• Tires from city vehicles & tires discarded on roads are disposed through a local tire dealer.
• Car and truck batteries are also recycled through a battery vendor.
• Milled asphalt from our paving program is reused by contractors & individuals for reuse as a base material for driveways, parking lots and other projects.
• We have old concrete that has been crushed to small gravel size for reuse as a base material for road projects. The larger pieces of concrete are used for erosion control along streams and road side stabilization.
• Guardrail & sign posts are sent to the local scrap yard for reuse.
• Leaves from our Fall leaf collection are recycled at a licensed composting facility as mulch.
• Storm debris is ground into material that is reused as fuel to generate power.
• We recycle cans & bottles from our lunch room.