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What does it take to melt snow on roads? PennDOT expert weighs in | FOX Weather Philly
From dumping rock salt in water before placing it on snow-filled roads to 13,000 tons of skid material, PennDOT District 5 Press Officer Ron Young breaks down what goes into keeping roadways safe amid snowy conditions.
PHILADELPHIA - When plow trucks throw down rock salt, the salt often bounces up as it hits the road.
To help prevent this, PennDOT is now wetting the rock salt it uses.
Ron Young, a PennDOT press officer, told FOX 29 that wetting salt with a brine prevents a lot of the bouncing when the salt hits the road.
He also says that wetting the salt accelerates the melting of snow and ice.
In addition, PennDOT will put down a salt water liquid on roads depending on the weather conditions.
When storms start out as rain, like this one, PennDOT doesn't put much brine down because it'll get washed away.
Brining highways helps to kickstart the snow and ice melting process. It also prevents snow and ice from bonding to the road. This makes it easier to plow the snow and ice off the road.
When you do see a plow truck on the road, Ron says to stay 6 car lengths behind it. Give it lots of room.
He also recommends checking your tire tread length and your wiper fluid amount to make sure your vehicle is ready for winter weather.
If you do have to hit the road in the snow, you can see where all the PennDOT plow trucks are on their website. When you're on 511PA, check "Track My Plow". It'll also show you their route. You can also see traffic cameras to get a feel of road conditions.
By the way, the PennDOT office covering the Poconos, the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, and Schuylkill County has 90 tons of salt ready to go for the winter season. Last season, they used only about half of that.