Crews cutting down the use of salt on snowy roads
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell reports that road crews have been cutting down on the use of salt to clear the highways of snow and ice across the country this winter.
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00:00 Accuothers Bill Waddell joins us live this morning. Bill, there's a lot of good but also some bad that comes with road salt.
00:07 Yeah, that's right, Christina Burney. Good morning. And there's a push right now for road crews to use less of this stuff, the rock salt, and more of a liquid brine solution.
00:17 And essentially what that is, it's a mix, one part salt mixed into two parts water.
00:22 Now when we look at salt use overall across the United States on the roads, it's incredible to look at the statistics. More than 20 million cubic tons of salt used on America's highways every winter.
00:34 If you put it all on a scale, that's more than 40 billion pounds. And the numbers are actually trending down in recent years after that big spike in 2015.
00:43 Leaders in Ohio say, "We're moving in the right direction, but it's not enough." And they're taking the lead to try and cut their salt use.
00:51 ODOT says they've reduced salt use 240% since 2019. That liquid brine sprayed on roads uses just a fraction of the salt and stays on asphalt and concrete better than rock salt, which oftentimes bounces right off.
01:07 Ohio's Environmental Protection Agency is offering grants to city and town road crews to help them make the switch and buy their own brine mixing equipment.
01:17 It's expensive, but the response has been overwhelming.
01:21 We had 260 applications. So we will be looking through those and figuring out where we can get the most bang for our buck.
01:29 We had $14 million of applications for a million dollars. If they can just get a little bit of help with funding, we're going to make a huge difference across the state. Communities want to do this.
01:42 Grant applications just closed a few days ago. The winners will be finding out next month if they're getting up to $75,000 each to help buy brine mixing gear or other equipment.
01:54 Ohio EPA Director Ann Vogel says this is a win-win situation.
01:59 We're talking about less salt on the roads, less salt being used overall, and using better methods so it sticks to the roads better.
02:06 Also, guys, less salt leaching into the soil and ending up in our waterways.
02:11 Just looking at the big picture, it's incredible to see how much salt we use. We'll be taking a closer look at all of this tonight on AccuWeather Prime.
02:19 I know you mentioned this a little bit, the financial aspect of it. So brine over salt, you end up saving money, is that correct?
02:27 That's what they're telling us with that mix. It's only one part salt to two parts water, so just a fraction of the salt used.
02:34 And Bernie, they tell us rock salt is not going away. They're not going to be able to eliminate it completely because with some storms, you absolutely need that rock salt.
02:42 It helps with traction, especially on the hills and some of the curves, but those flat spots, they say the brine stays right on the roadway.
02:49 Because if you've been behind a plow truck pretty close spreading salt, half of that salt ends up bouncing off into the ditches.
02:55 So it kind of spreads out that salt a little more for usage. All right, Bill Waddell, great stuff.
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