Winter Gritting Services

Yes.

Salt will work at temperatures down to minus 8-10 degrees Celsius. Below that temperature, salted roads will still freeze.

Sodium chloride also known as rock salt, is the most common deicing salt. Rock salt releases the highest amount of chloride when it dissolves.

Salt melts ice and snow by lowering its freezing point. Salt is best put on the roads before they freeze or before snow arrives. Then, as snow falls, the salt mixes with it, lowering its freezing point.

Rock salt, to be exact. Much like salt helps freeze ice cream as it churns, it can help the ice in your cooler last longer because salt lowers the freezing point.

Salt melts ice and snow by lowering its freezing point. Salt is best put on the roads before they freeze or before snow arrives. Then, as snow falls, the salt mixes with it, lowering its freezing point. The result is a brine solution, preventing subsequent ice forming. If roads are already frozen solid, salt is far less effective as there’s no liquid water on the surface.

Ice forms when the temperature of water reaches 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius), and that includes ice on roadways. Road salt works by lowering the freezing point of water via a process called freezing point depression. The freezing point of the water is lowered once the salt is added, so it the salt makes it more difficult for water to freeze. A 10-percent salt solution freezes at 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-6 Celsius), and a 20-percent solution freezes at 2 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celsius).

The key is, there has to be at least a tiny bit of water on the road for freezing point depression to work. That’s why you often see trucks pre-treat roads with a brine solution (a mixture of salt and water) when ice and snow is forecast. If the roads are dry and the DOT simply puts down road salt, it likely won’t make much of a difference. But pre-treating with a brine solution can help ice from ever forming, and will help reduce the amount of road salt trucks will need to spread to de-ice later.

Rock salt is one of the most widely used road de-icers, but it’s not without critics. For one, rock salt does have its limits. If the temperature of the roadway is lower than about 15 degrees F (- 9 C), the salt won’t have any effect on the ice. The solid salt simply can’t get into the structure of the frozen water to start the dissolving process. In these cases, the DOT typically spreads sand on top of the ice to provide traction.

Rock salt also has major environmental issues, including the sodium and chlorine that leaches into the ground and water. And as we mentioned earlier, because rock salt isn’t purified and contains contaminants — including lead, iron, aluminum and phosphorus — when it’s spread, these are spread as well.

However, rock salt stillremains the most widely used and affordable de-icers available. And while there are other chemical de-icers, too, none are 100 percent risk free.

All salt contains two basic elements: sodium and chlorine. Sodium (chemical symbol Na) is a silvery-white metal that reacts violently when mixed with water and oxidises in air. Chlorine (chemical symbol Cl) is greenish-yellow and exists as a gas at room temperature. Because both elements are so volatile, they’re found in nature as part of compounds like sodium chloride (NaCl), which forms the mineral halite. Sodium chloride is about 60 percent chlorine and 40 percent sodium [source: Salt Institute]. Although sodium is volatile and chlorine is toxic, together as sodium chloride they’re integral to life. Sodium chloride molecules are cubical. The large chloride ions are closely packed together, with smaller sodium ions filling in the spaces between them.

The amount of rock salt to be used varies depending on the temperature and location. For example, steep hills and sharp bends will benefit from more rock salt compared to flat and straight roads.

However, we recommend that 10-15 grams of rock salt are to be spread per square metre. This amount can increase to 20-40 grams if weather conditions are more severe or if rain has fallen before freezing temperatures are predicted (rainfall will wash away the rock salt).

For example;

• 500 square metres area = 5000 – 7500 grams of rock salt

Therefore, if you have a 6 cu ft grit bin which holds 175kg, you can cover the area a minimum of 23 times.

• A football pitch – 7,140 square metres (1.76 acres) = 71400 – 107100 grams of rock salt

Therefore, if you have a giant 50 cu ft grit bin which holds 1400kg, you can cover the area a minimum of 13 times.

When making salting decisions we use weather forecasts, computerised ice prediction systems and information from roadside weather stations to get the most accurate indications of where and when ice is likely to form. However, road surface temperatures and air temperatures are rarely the same and the road surface temperature is also used to make decisions on when to apply salt

The answer is yes, salt does indirectly damage your concrete driveways, patios and sidewalks. Bumps and potholes don’t just appear due to regular wear and tear – salt damages concrete over time by causing corrosion to occur under the surface, leading to discoloured, cracked and crumbling concrete.

Sodium chloride also known as rock salt, is the most common deicing salt. Rock salt releases the highest amount of chloride when it dissolves. Chloride can damage concrete and metal.

White Rock Salt is used where cleanliness and hygiene are a priority, as it leaves little or no residue.

• Conforms to BS3247:2011, the British Standard for de-icing salt.
• Marine salt harvested from sustainable sources around the Mediterranean Sea.
• Almost 100% pure sodium chloride meaning every particle plays a part in the de-icing process making it an efficient Winter salt at battling ice and snow.
• White salt does not leave behind the same messy residue as traditional brown salt (grit).
• Perfect for pathways, pavements, playgrounds and commercial estate where cleanliness is important.