Road Weather Management Program
photos of lightning, trucks plowing snow, an empty road before a storm, and an evacuation
Office of Operations 21st century operations using 21st century technologies

Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 2.0

Title:

Laboratory Melting Performance Comparison: Rock Salt with and Without Prewetting

Abstract:

Prewetting road salt with liquid deicing chemicals has been suggested as a way to improve the melting performance of the salt and potentially reduce the amount of salt required to clear a roadway. Forensic Dynamics Inc. undertook this research to explore these possibilities. A protocol for manufacturing repeatable compact snow and for trafficking this snow to simulate rolling tire compaction was developed following a literature review and experimentation. Tests were conducted at 4, 8, and 12 gallons of liquid chemical per ton of rock salt, and at -1, -5, and -10 degrees C. Three application rates were tested for most chemicals. Prewetting salt slightly decreased its performance at -1 and -5 degrees C. However, all of the prewetted mixtures were effective at -10 degrees C, unlike the dry rock salt. Melting was improved by increasing the ratio of liquid deicer to rock salt.

Source(s):

6th International Symposium on Snow Removal and Ice Control Technology, Transportation Research Circular, No. E-C063

http://trb.org/publications/circulars/ec063.pdf

Date: 2004

Author:

Luker, Rokosh, Leggett

Keywords:


Snow
Pavement friction

PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®.

Office of Operations