You think salt and sand are harmful to the environment? Years ago, cinders from smelting operations were spread on the roads. Some of those operations went on to be declared superfund sites. I have to say though that the sun would melt those dark cinders into the ice very quickly and provide excellant traction.
I was wondering if someone was going to mention cinders.
When we lived in L'ville back in the mid/late 70s there was some very heavy and frequent snow storms. The Ohio froze up enough for people to walk on which was crazy. I remember the road crews spreading cinders, salt and I think sand at the same time. The cinders worked real well.
In my area of NC they now are spreading brine on the roads which seems to work very well. DOT/cities/towns lay it down 24/48 hours in advance of the storm if they can and it really seems to work better than salt/sand. It stays on the road as well even with traffic before the storms.
A good five years or so ago we had a snow storm that hit in the afternoon during the work week. It was a surprise and the snow hit quickly. Brine could not be put out in time. People started leaving work and some schools let out early. The snow hit the road and with people driving on the snow it turned into one big sheet of ice. The snow amount was only 1-3 inches but the roads were ice rinks. Some kids spent the night at school. They just could not get home. Thousands of people got stuck on the roads and had to spend the night in their cars or if they were lucky, walk home. Some school buses were stuck on the roads as well. It was just a freaky set of circumstances.
I ran for it from work when I saw how bad it was going to be.
Those other drivers on the road scare me.
The only problem I had was after getting our oldest from school I had to go through a section of slopping road with a curve that head down hill. A medium duty truck with a large equipment trail started to slide down the hill and the slope which put him in my lane. I was able to get by as he was able to stop on the ice. He was crawling along when this happened but if you are on ice you are on ice. :laughing:
We got another 5 miles out of the Raleigh area and there was not a snow flake on the ground. The storm hit at just the right place, a big urban area, at the right time, with just enough snow to turn to ice. If the storm had hit a bit to the east or west it would have been no big deal. But it hit at the worst possible place.
I just do not drive for a couple of days after snow unless I have no choice. The snow and ice I can handle. But the crazy drivers are the real threat. One of the kids just had a scheduled procedure at the hospital just as a snow storm moved in. I was hoping we would beat the storm but it got here just as we left the house. The good news was that we left at 0500 so there was very little traffic. The snow was really heavy and blowing as well so visibility was limited. Very few cards on the road and most driving reasonably. But there were a couple of idiots driving at 55-60. :confused2: They were in UNC trucks so I guess they did not care since it was not their truck if they crashed it.
Later,
Dan
