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Dave Smith[_1_]

On 2019-02-11 11:01 p.m., wrote:
> On Monday, February 11, 2019 at 8:41:30 PM UTC-6, Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> Yes, I realize that you don't often get significant amounts of snow, but
>> there is a huge difference between what you think is a significant
>> amount and what people further north think is significant. It has a lot
>> to do with the road and highway departments not having the resources to
>> deal with it. It costs a lot of money to have a fleet of trucks on hand
>> for sanding and flowing operations. When we get some freezing rain or
>> snow we sand the roads for traction, and plows to clear heavier amounts
>> of snow. Since you don't have the means to deal with the stuff it gets
>> packed down and turns to ice, and there is no traction on ice.
>>
> We've got a fleet of snow plows as well as mountains of salt ready to be used.
> However, we don't use sand.
>

We use a lot more sand than salt. Salt usually goes on at the beginning
of a storm. It doesn't melt snow. It lowers the freezing temperature. It
is used to form a "brine sandwich", a layer of slush, so that the plows
can slip under the snow and push it off the road. Otherwise, the plows
just ride up over the packed snow. Then they use sand, which is mixed
with just enough salt to stop it from freezing into big lumps. In
addition to providing traction, the dark material attacts light/heat.