Road Salt.

Mr.Boots

With the likelyhood of more bad weather and the local councils running out of rock salt...just wondering why they cant use beach sand?
Surely it has a high salt content and has the abrasive gripping quality of grit.
Lots of horible beaches around the country wouldnt miss the sand, it would probably recover by the time summer comes round again anyway.

sdanseo

Mr.Boots wrote: »

With the likelyhood of more bad weather and the local councils running out of rock salt...just wondering why they cant use beach sand?
Surely it has a high salt content and has the abrasive gripping quality of grit.
Lots of horible beaches around the country wouldnt miss the sand, it would probably recover by the time summer comes round again anyway.

Grit and sand aren't the problem, it's the supply of rock salt which is the main ingredient for melting ice/snow. Ordinary salt barely does the job, let alone beach sand, although it can be mixed with same to aid traction/make it last longer.

Anyway it's not mined here and thus must be imported, hence the shortages.

challengemaster

Why isn't desiccant used? Stop the ice forming in the first place

bmw535d

Because thanks to our stupid environmental laws nobody can take a grain of sand from any beach legally.

I wonder what brain box thought Ted in his tractor taking up a few loads of sand would harm the beach considering there is millions of tonnes of sand there and thousands of tonnes of sand being made naturally every year.

of course this doesn't stop many rural people or the donegal county council them selves sneaking up a few load here and there

tommy.obr

For one, it would be completely ineffective at combating even a small volume of water or snow

two, its highly toxic, theres a reason those little packs of silica gel say ' do not ingest'....

three, its about 10-20 times more expensive than rock salt

spreading dry rice on the roads would be just as effective with alot less toxicity/expense

high horse

This is one environmental law I fully support. It makes no sense to destroy a coastal environment just because some drivers can't cope with the conditions.

Alun

sdonn wrote: »

Anyway it's not mined here and thus must be imported, hence the shortages.

Depending on your definition of 'here', yes it is. There's a big rock salt mining operation in Carrickfergus in the north.

http://www.irishsaltmining.com/home.htm