New research confirms using salt brine can effectively clear roads while using less salt.
Salt brine is a mixture of salt and water used in place of traditional rock salt placed on the roads.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation shared results of university led research.
“As we continue to enhance winter maintenance practices statewide, it’s critical that we base our strategies on sound research,” WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman said. “This Clear Roads project provides valuable data that confirms what our teams and county partners have observed for years – salt brine is an effective tool to improve safety on our roads, reduce material use and environmental impact and optimize available resources.”
Field testing evaluated operational and safety performance on parallel routes in two Wisconsin counties.
Salt brine was applied in one direction and traditional granular rock-salt was applied in the opposite direction.
Results showed nearly equal road performance between the salt brine and rock salt highway sections.
Further, salt brine used between 40 and 72 percent less salt.
According to WisDOT data, about $1,000 of road salt covers nearly 70 lane miles when applied as traditional rock salt, but covers more than 175 lane miles when mixed with salt brine.
“This study confirms that salt brine can deliver the same level of roadway safety while using substantially less material,” said Andrea Bill, associate director of the TOPS Lab, housed in the UW-Madison College of Engineering. “By pairing real-world field testing with rigorous analysis, we were able to quantify what many winter maintenance professionals have seen in practice – brine is an effective, efficient and responsible tool for Wisconsin winters.”
