Five myths about winter road gritting – Automotive Blog

‘Tis the season for snow and ice on our roads, which implies gritter vehicles are again in motion throughout the UK.

We’ve teamed up with the specialist operator, The Gritting Firm, to dispel 5 myths about street gritting.

• Fable 1: “The winter wagons include grit.” Unfaithful. It’s not grit, it’s salt. The small stones that make up grit can go away a sticky residue with the chance of a slippery street floor. Grit can even block drains because it washes away. The choice is salt. Brown rock salt (typically mistaken for grit) is mostly unfold on massive street surfaces as a result of it’s extra economical. White salt is costlier and is extra typically used within the grounds of colleges, hospitals and enterprise parks, because it leaves much less residue on flooring and carpets when trodden in by pedestrians.
• Fable 2: “Salt will soften ice at any temperature.” Not true. Salt works by reducing the temperature at which water will freeze, and this prevents ice forming on the roads. The extra concentrated the salt, the decrease the freezing level, however salt is much less efficient beneath minus 5 levels Celsius. At decrease temperatures, ice and snow handled with salt melts much less rapidly.
• Fable 3: “As soon as the salt has been unfold on the street the ice will soften instantly.” False. The de-icing impact depends on the salt being crushed and unfold by the passing automobiles’ tyres. If the visitors is gentle, then the salted ice on the street will take longer to soften.
• Fable 4: “Deep snow on roads will soften rapidly with salt unfold on it.” Not true. Salt works greatest on snow that’s lower than 4 cm, and the visitors is required to assist distribute the salt.
• Fable 5: “It’s too chilly for snow.” True, however unlikely within the UK. Sure, there’s a hyperlink between the temperature of the air and the way a lot water it might probably maintain. However that is solely true when the temperature plummets beneath minus 40 levels Celsius, which doesn’t normally occur within the UK. When this temperature is reached, the air has so little moisture in it that snow can hardly ever type.

The Gritting Firm is a division of JW Crowther (established in 1860) – a specialised agency offering a spread of environmental companies throughout the UK.