Congratulations to the recipients of Minnesota’s 2024 Build a Better Mousetrap Awards! The Minnesota Pioneer Award goes to Roseau County for its Belly Plow Safety Access Step, and the Minnesota SMART Transformation Award goes to Oak Lawn Township for its Belly Scratcher.
Minnesota Mousetrap awards are given in two categories:
- Pioneer Award—A locally relevant product/tool that is among the first to solve a maintenance problem with a homegrown solution.
- SMART Transformation Award—A locally relevant significant change in any transportation activity or process that is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound) and results in improved efficiencies.
The Minnesota Mousetrap Competition is sponsored by the Minnesota Local Road Research Board and administered by Minnesota LTAP.
Belly Plow Safety Access Step
Problem: In snowy or wet conditions, the steps for entering and exiting plow trucks can pose a safety risk when they get slippery. Roseau County wanted to reduce this slip-and-fall hazard.
Solution: A Roseau County staff member welded a grip pad onto the upper surface of the belly plow, significantly enhancing the ease of accessing the truck’s cab. For under $100, this additional grip step makes getting into and out of a plow truck much safer in slippery weather conditions.
Belly Scratcher
Problem: Oak Lawn Township had a few problems maintaining its gravel roads. In the winter, these roads would become glazed-over and icy, and salt/sand would not stay in the travel lanes.
In the summer, small washboards would develop on the roads treated with calcium chloride (used for dust control on gravel). The county also noticed sod growing on the working edges of gravel roads.
Solution: One of Oak Lawn Township’s maintenance employees built the Belly Scratcher in-house for approximately $1,500, and this attachment solved all the issues. In the winter, the grooves cut by the scratcher retain salt/sand, keeping it in place on the roads. Thanks to this innovation, the township’s gravel roads stay very smooth but are not nearly as slippery. Salt/sand usage has also dropped by one-third.
In the summer, the attachment can level rough spots on the roads without destroying the calcium chloride. It also destroys sod clumps after grading.