A very juicy remedy

Sometimes the salt poured on the road is not enough to prevent the accumulation of snow and the formation of ice sheets. That is why in the United States they are testing an alternative method against frost:beet juice. According to the authorities, adding this liquid to the traditional mixture of salt and calcium chloride that is poured into the ground in winter will prevent the closure of many roads.

The numbers speak for themselves. Mixing reducesfreezing point of the salt from -7 ° C to -31 ° C. In addition, it is an alternative moreecological, since beets are biodegradable. On the other hand, the mixture does not have a sweet taste: the beet juice is applied once all the sugar has been extracted, since otherwise cattle and other animals would flock to the roads.

Another important advantage to take into account is that the liquid isBrown color, which allows to check with the naked eye if a path has already been treated. “When it snows we usually travel the same route up to three times applying salt and calcium chloride, both the color of snow,” explains Mary Carran Webster, head of the initiative in Columbus, capital of the US state of Ohio. “With the new mix we will only have to do it once,” he adds. This will involvesavingof hundreds of tons of the non-slip compound. And with less salt in the road, the corrosion suffered by vehicles and infrastructures (bridges, etc.) will be much less, as well as the damage that this substance causes in the trees that grow next to the roads.