TRAFFIC GURU
Oh, Canadians love their salt – on food, on the roads, over one’s
shoulder -- wherever. We use around 10 megatonnes (10,000,000 metric
tons) of salt a year, and about half goes to winter roadway
maintenance. And there are nagging voices that say we should cut
back – in all areas.
When it comes to roads, it’s clear that something is necessary to
help us keep our tires where they belong. But we also have to
consider the damage salt does to our vehicles, bridges, pavement,
soil and water supply.
Although it is legal to use, Environment Canada considers road salt
a toxic substance and governments across the country have been
discovering ways to reduce their consumption – without compromising
safety.
The County of Wellington in south-central Ontario boasts of its
“proactive use of environmentally friendly alternatives to road
salt.” County road management crews have long been adding liquid
deicer to their anti-snow recipe, including it with the sand and/or
salt spread on the roads.
Some municipalities have been experimenting with “salt brine,”
actually pre-wetting the roadway before the snow arrives. There is
also a technique called “anti-icing” where special mixtures can be
applied to pavement as much as five days before a storm is expected
According to Wellington County, liquid deicers – made of a yummy
combination of refined corn, magnesium chloride and water – have a
freezing point of -65º Celsius, and “have reduced salt use by up to
25% and sand use by approximately 40%.” Apparently, they crow, “the
product is half as toxic as baking soda and a tenth as corrosive as
salt, and meets Canadian Drinking Water Standards.”
What about areas of the country where snow and ice tend to stay on
the roads all winter, either because it’s damn cold, or the roadway
are in fact graveled?
Joly
Township is a wee bit of cold paradise that has less than 200
kilometers of road north of the Muskokas in central Ontario. Road
Superintendent Paul Frost reports that “Our roads freeze over in the
winter and usually stay frozen until spring.” Snow is allowed to
build up between two to four centimeters “after which the loose snow
is removed after each storm,” he says.
Apparently salt is used very little – 40 tonnes over the course of
a winter compared to 1000 tonnes of sand. He says the salt is in
fact used largely to prevent “the sand from sticking to the dumpbox
of the truck.” Sand is applied to the hills, corners, and
intersections to supply traction and safe braking.
But salt is still the crucial – and cheapest -- currency of
municipal road maintenance. Road salt costs about $38.00 a tonne
while one competitor, calcium chloride, is $400.00 a tonne, says
Frost.
“I believe salt will be used to keep the roads clear -- for the
foreseeable future,” he says. Why? “Strictly economics. It’s the
cheapest substance that works. Nothing else even comes close because
all the other alternatives have to be manufactured. Salt only has to
be mined.”
He continues, “Why use anything on the roads in the winter? Public
safety and industrial productivity. Black ice respects no one’s
driving ability. You hit it, and you're going off the road --
period. People are maimed or killed, cars and trucks [end up]
smashed and in the ditches, their cargos ruined or delayed.”
Next, what our Scandinavian peers are doing to reduce their sodium
intake, and the damage we do to our own cars, buildings and lawns.
Ed Drass, with
files by Eric McConnachie and James Bow
edrass@nationalpost.com