Prince George plow crews deploy Chlorides and ‘Fracture’ in battle against icy city streets
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PRINCE GEORGE- To Salt, or not to Salt? That’s the question top of mind at the Prince George City Yard when it comes to de-icing city streets in the aftermath of a record cold snap, a significant early season snowfall, and a freezing rain event on Boxing day. Jordan Wiseman, Manager of Roads and Fleet at the City Yard, explained that conditions we’re just right after the holiday warm-up for plow crews to break out their not-so secret weapon in the fight against the ice: a special blend of traction material and salts.
De-icing a street isn’t really as simple as just tossing regular table salt on an icy patch, in fact, there’s quite a bit of science at play when it comes to choosing the right compound for the conditions. Chloride, like rock salt or brine, lose their effectiveness as a de-icer at lower temperatures, if conditions are too cold, the salt compounds can potentially do more harm than good, melting the just top layer of ice on the roads before it quickly refreezes it into a slick sheet, like a Zamboni making a pass on an ice rink.
Crews at the City Yard have been working round the clock over the holiday’s to clear the streets and break up the ice slowly taking hold on sidewalks, intersections and throughfares. As the plows keep on plowing like clockwork, they’re on schedule to have all residential areas cleared by the end of the week… just in time for them to get some well deserved rest over the weekend, before going right back at it in the new year.
