Duluth Airport Orders Tons Of Sand Before First Snowfall

DULUTH - Winter preps are underway at the Duluth International Airport. Runway officials ordered 1,500 tons of special sand on Thursday that doesn't get picked up into the engines of planes.

The ground crews don't use salt to protect airplanes from corrosion. And the trucks they use are pretty impressive.

"The sand truck that we use sprays about 75 feet wide and so we can sand the entire runway one trip up and one trip back," said Steve Wabrowetz, Airside Manager at the Duluth Airport.

The sand comes from local gravel pits.