In case you were wondering, last night’s icy bridges weren’t the result of budget cuts or a bad economy. The Missouri Department of Transportation has plenty of salt, so that wasn’t the issue.

Ice formed on some bridges because the pavement hadn’t been pretreated with a salt water solution. The reason: it was raining. Rain washes away brine, making it a waste of time to put down. Whether or not brine goes down in rain, once the pavement is cold and wet enough, you have ice.

Around 7 p.m., ice started making Interstate 70 at the Blanchette Bridge treacherous. Drivers crashed into each other. ”We had crews out,” said Owen Hasson, maintenance superintendent for MoDOT. ”We were treating these slick spots as they occurred. We just couldn’t maneauver through the traffic as we’d have liked to.”

The department had more than 50 trucks out last night, and the number went up after pavement sensors recorded freezing temperaturesice. Forecasts said freezing conditions were to hit around 10 p.m., but they came around 7 p.m. instead, Hasson said.