Episode 185: Give your infrastructure a low-salt diet

Episode 185: Give your infrastructure a low-salt diet

From ASCE Plot Points Podcast by American Society of Civil Engineers

January 20, 2026 · 17 min · Episode 185

About this episode

Connie Fortin and Tim Olson discuss low salt design as a solution to reduce salt usage in infrastructure projects.

It’s snow season in a lot of places right now – which means salt season. And salt season isn’t great for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is contaminated water. So, Connie Fortin and Tim Olson have a new idea. They call it low salt design – a way of reducing the need for salt from the very start of the project. Fortin is a low salt strategist and Olson a water resources engineer, both for Bolton and Menk in Minnesota. In episode 185 of ASCE Plot Points, Fortin and Oloen discuss low salt design and why the solutions might be even simpler than you ever imagined. Learn more about low salt design, including a free download with suggested solutions. And dive deeper into the concepts in an article Fortin and Olson wrote for the ASCE Journal of Cold Regions Engineering.

People in this episode

Guests: Connie Fortin, Tim Olson

Topics covered

  • infrastructure
  • low salt design
  • environmental impact
  • water resources
  • snow season
  • contaminated water

Keywords

  • low salt design
  • infrastructure
  • salt season
  • contaminated water
  • water resources
  • environmental solutions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bolton and Menk, ASCE Journal of Cold Regions Engineering

Places: Minnesota

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