How salt brine works in winter storms
Road crews show AccuWeather's Bill Wadell how they mix and use salt brine on streets and highways before and during winter storms to keep drivers safe.
Transcript
00:00 When there's snow or ice in the forecast,
00:03 it's a race against the clock for road crews,
00:06 deciding when and how they'll treat streets and highways.
00:10 There's the salt that we put on the road right here.
00:13 It's like a dirty-looking salt.
00:14 This is called solar salt.
00:16 This is what they truck in to where the machines are that mix the brine.
00:21 Salt brine is a popular option in many states,
00:24 a solution sprayed before storms that must be mixed carefully.
00:29 With the formula they use, 23.3% salt, it works.
00:33 Our brine master is fantastic, making sure that mix is right there.
00:37 The brew of salt, often sodium chloride, mixed with water,
00:42 helps lower the freezing point.
00:44 What it does is prevents the snow or the ice from sticking to the pavement.
00:48 It puts a bond in there so you could plow the pavement off
00:52 or when the traffic is running it over, it mixes the salt brine.
00:56 Joe Warby with Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation
01:00 says brine can also be sprayed onto dry salt from the back of plow trucks.
01:05 Mixing with the salt which comes off the auger from underneath there,
01:09 and it mixes right with it, and when it goes on the ground,
01:12 it's not bouncing, it's not dry.
01:14 So you've got three foot, three foot, and the traffic does the rest.
01:17 Brine can help crews save time and money
01:20 by treating roads up to 24 hours before a storm
01:24 with a solution that costs a fraction of salt.
01:27 The snow or ice stick to the pavement becomes ice, treacherous road conditions.
01:32 The brine it has saves money, saves salt.
01:35 Salt brine is not the answer every time.
01:38 It's often avoided in winter storms that start as rain.
01:42 It can quickly wash away the solution before temperatures drop.
01:46 For AccuWeather, I'm Bill Waddell.
01:49 Hotel.
01:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]