An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Uh…..What?
Road crews work around the clock
While many people in West Tennessee played in the snow Saturday, road crews and power companies worked throughout the day to repair the damage caused by Friday’s storm.
We’ve been working straight through since 6:30 yesterday morning,” said Buddy Crick, assistant superintendent with the Jackson Street Department. “We are bringing in another crew to work until 3 in the morning.”
Crick said his crews have spread more than 300 tons of salt since Friday morning. So far the crews have focused on keeping main routes open such as Hollywood Drive, Highland Avenue and Dr. F.E. Wright Drive.
Salt does not work as well on iced streets, and it takes longer for plows to clear the streets, Crick said.
Now, I admire these fine folks for doing a tough job which isn’t exactly normal for our neck of the woods. That being said….”Salt does not work as well on iced streets…”? Really. I don’t know….isn’t salt the stuff that actually does a good job on icy streets in Wisconsin? I remember many salt trucks running around, trying to make the streets drivable. Perhaps I have something mixed up in my tiny little brain? What would you use on icy roads instead?
Sand. It’s cheaper and more ecofriendly. It would also make much more sense in what is normally warmer climes like TN.
Does sand work all that well? They used it in Dallas, and I don’t remember it doing such a great job. Of course, that was quite a while ago too.
That is all they use on the back roads by the northern castle. It won’t melt the ice, but it will keep you on the road. For the bigger roads, they still use salt, but they see a lot more traffic, obviously.
Hmmm… I got the impression the roads they used it on were a few of the main ones. I could be wrong. It’s such a confusing city anyway. If they wanna use sand, salt….all the same to me, since I rarely go there, unless I REALLY have to. LOL I do know that sand is quite messy, and I remember the roads in Dallas being a slick pile of slush/freeze/slush/freeze. Ugly cycle.
You are correct capper in that salt is less eco friendly than sand but if you want to clear streets and you have temps above zero then, properly used, you want salt. Trouble with sand is that as friction melts the ice and it refreezes, sand becomes encapsulated in the ice and you have slick dirty ice. Salt on the other hand is used before, during, and after icing to first prevent the formation of thick ice and then to manage the formation and then lastly to prevent buildup. Salt water have a much lower freezing point than freshwater where saline will generally see freezing at around 26 degrees F. The more salt the lower the freezing point. In a warm clime like yours, salt is actually better because you do not see the prolonged periods of below freezing that you will see in WI. Also, once the roads are clear from friction and salt, the odds of needing continued use are slim. You don’t really see 10-15 ice storms per year or storms that last days on end so your use will be much less than we have up here.
@fishaddict -
Ol Broad and I live in TN. Perhaps that’s why she was wondering about
using salt there. I’m glad they have it. Capper lives in Milwaukee, and
should under stand this. I have no idea what “northern castle” he is referring to.