The Highway Department utilizes liquid deicers for anti-icing and pre-wetting operations. Anti-icing is the application of a blend of salt brine and a high performance liquid deicer (BEET HEET) on selected pavements before a snow or ice event. Anti-icing is intended to disrupt the bond that forms between ice particles and the pavement surface.
The Salt Institute estimates that pre-event anti-icing can be ten times more effective than deicing with granular salt after ice and snow have bonded to the road surface. By preventing this bond from occurring, ice and snow can be removed from the roadway much easier, allowing the Highway Department to reach bare pavement much quicker.
Anti-icing allows the Highway Department to clean up snow events much quicker while using much less material. Pre-wetting is the process of spraying salt with a liquid deicer (BEET HEET) before spreading the salt on the roadway. Rock salt can’t melt ice until a liquid brine is created.
Pre-wetting the salt speeds up the “brining process” thereby speeding up the melting action. Pre-wetting salt with a liquid deicer substantially increases the ice melting capacity of rock salt allowing the Highway Department to reduce the amount of salt applied to the roadway, thereby reducing material costs and overall chloride emissions to our local environment.