No road salt is no problem for some jurisdictions

SALEM, OREGON (NEWS 1130) – The temperature may be frigid out there but we’ve seen what a hot commodity road salt is in Metro Vancouver. But there are some jurisdictions that get by just fine without using sodium chloride.

“Probably for 50 years, Oregon has avoided using rock salt or solid salt because of fears over the environmental damage,” explains Dave Thompson with the Oregon Department of Transportation. Instead, the Beaver State relies on magnesium chloride which is typically extracted from brine or sea water and applied as a liquid.

Thompson says per-tonne, road salt is cheaper to buy, but there are a lot of other things you need to factor in. “The environmental concerns you have for building up the infrastructure to protect your piles of salt. You have to build specific types of sheds and extra washing equipment with special drains, wash your trucks frequently, you certainly have to wash things more often,” says Thompson. “The long-term cost is likely very close to the same.”

There’s also the damage the runoff from the salt causes to the surrounding environment, for both plants and animals.

Storing the liquid solution magnesium chloride in tanks comes with a lot less maintenance than pyramid-shaped piles of rock salt.

And it’s not just the environmental concerns the state has always taken into account. “It also affects the infrastructure itself. It affects the steel and the concrete, it affects bridges. And let’s be honest, it affects your car.”

Other alternatives used in various places in North America with differing degrees of success include potato juice on the mountainous roads of Tennessee, cheese brine in Wisconsin and beet juice in Montreal.

Oregon is currently in the pilot-project phase of using rock salt in one mountain pass near the California border, where temperatures can be too cold for magnesium chloride to be effective.

The toll salt takes on your vehicle

The demand for salt in Vancouver might be turning people upside down as residents scramble to address their driveways and sidewalks, but what about the toll it’s taking on our vehicles? Today’s cars and SUV’s sure aren’t built like they used to and according to one local mechanic, that’s a good thing.

“The fender on the inside is sealed off so it’s trying to protect all the electrical connections with ABS and traction control,” explains Aaron Lopes from Aaron’s Automotive in Tsawwassen. “It’s a lot better today with the newer cars out there. The older cars tend to take a little more of a beating.”

While cars are better protected to withstand the challenges winter driving conditions present, Lopes insists you still need to be mindful looking out for your car. Salt can still build up on our vehicles… look no further than that white crusty exterior that covers your black sedan or red minivan.”

He adds there is a simple way to fix that. “The good thing to do is just grab your garden hose and rinse it all out the best you can. If you’re not watching what is going on with your vehicle it will start causing corrosion and rust and that will come up a little bit later, so keep it clean.”

In a perfect world, protecting your car prior to the winter much in the same way we wax our cars down in the spring to protect our coveted paint jobs from the rain is the best way to go, but isn’t something you should look at being mandatory. With the weather as cold as it is, it may not be ideal turning on your outdoor taps at the moment but once the weather warms or presents an opportunity, a simple spray from the hose can go a long way with protecting your car in the long run.