WYDOT Uses Natural Resources to Keep Highways Safe
Written by Andrew-Rossi on February 5, 2018
In order to keep the highways safe for motorists during winter, the Wyoming Department of Transportation uses chemicals to break up the ice and snow.
But according to Cody Beers with the Department of Transportation, the mixture they spread on the roads is actually economical and eco-friendly – it’s just salt brine and beet juice.
Beers says using salt on roads lowers the temperature at which ice will melt, and helps to prevent the formation of ice at lower temperatures. Salt brine freezes at 6 degrees below zero when mixed properly, while the beet juice, or GeoBrine, freezes at 26 below zero. Beers says WYDOT tries to work ahead of storms by pre-wetting highways with the beet juice mixture, because it provides a preventative coating on the highways, which lasts longer.
Beers says the use of the salt brine and beet juice mixture helps save manpower and money.
However, while research verifies fewer accidents occur on treated highways, these de-icers and anti-icers can have long term effects on vehicles, so WYDOT officials suggest washing your vehicles after a storm to rinse them of the chemicals.
