News1. What is the salt spread on the roads used for? How does it work?
The salt is used to ensure the safety of users and the fluidity of traffic in the winter period. By melting under the effect of humidity, it lowers the temperature at which the water will freeze.
It therefore prevents the formation of ice down to –8° C. This is why it is better to use the salt before the formation of the ice; for example, after snow has fallen.
2. How much does the salt cost?
Salt is the cheapest product and the most effective against ice. Its price greatly depends on the distance it needs to be transported, but rarely exceeds €0.06 per kilo.
The total cost of the salt spread on French roads during a normal winter represents less than the daily revenue from tolls on motorways alone, during the first day of the holiday period.
3. How much salt is used in France to ensure the winter serviceability of roads?
This depends on the climate, the rudeness of the winter, and also the region. Moreover, managing this variability is the main difficulty of our trade.
On average, approximately 700,000 tonnes of de-icing salt are used in France, which only represents a few grams per m² of asphalted road. A salting machine spreads between 10 and 20g/m² according to the conditions.
4. Does global warming threaten our activity?
Nobody can tell. Reductions in the use of road salt have not been detected at either the world or European levels. However, we can say that variations in consumption, which are already statistically very important, will only increase, which poses enormous logistic problems which everybody needs to be aware of.
Anticipation is the key word in our trade.
5. OK, so why are certain roads not salted when it snows? Why are certain motorways blocked?
This is perfectly normal, for several reasons. It is not possible to intervene everywhere, at the same time. It is a problem of human resources and equipment. This is why maintenance services set priorities, according to the quantity of traffic.
Furthermore, the working time reduction law (set at 35 hours) causes problems for everybody involved in an unpredictable activity (the weather forecast is not an exact science) which requires teams on stand-by.
Finally, climatic phenomena are often extremely violent and pose problems for the stocks set aside. Here, again, preventive action is required, which is not always the case.
Lastly, rapid and very early (preventive) intervention is necessary with sufficient means. When snow falls, the salting machines themselves must not be blocked in traffic jams.
6. Who are our customers?
Our customers are mainly public bodies: the DDE (Departmental Equipment Division) for the national road network and the non-franchised motorways; the departmental road services for the departmental networks; the motorway companies for the franchised motorway network; and the towns and urban communities. Our other customers (industrial customers, distributors, mass merchandisers and private customers) represent less than 10% of our sales.
7. Isn’t de-icing salt dangerous for the environment?
Salt is a natural product.
When a few, common sense rules are applied, the use of de-icing salt does not harm the environment. These rules are based on two aspects :
=> the storage of the salt: if the salt cannot be stored in hangars, precautions must be taken to avoid polluting any rivers near the storage place or the water table underneath the storage place.
=> the spreading itself must be performed properly: the whole amount, but only the right amount must be used! In this case, the salt which is spread (10 to 20g/m² of road) is very strongly diluted before it reaches the river where its concentration is no longer even measurable. Ultimately, the salt returns to the sea from where it was collected in the first place !
8. Salting or sanding?
It’s true that these two terms are often confused. Sanding normally designates the spreading of sand or, more generally, what are designated as abrasives (gravel, etc.). These products do not cause the ice to melt: they are simply meant to improve tyre contact with the snow. The use of gravel is no longer justified today because salt is so much more effective. Furthermore, gravel has to be picked up by sweeping, which is a source of pollution in itself (dust), without mentioning the risk of smashed windscreens and the problem of blocked drains and pipes. However, many salting machines (which spread salt!) still carry the warning ‘danger - sanding!’
9. Are we responsible in the case of an accident involving skidding on ice?
Our responsibility consists in being able to supply our customers when they need salt, which is not easy given the sudden nature of the requirement.
Sometimes, we have to ship out 300,000 tonnes in a single week, which are almost half our sales for an average winter.
In any case, drivers must exercise caution when the weather is bad.
The organisations responsible for road maintenance (the winter serviceability of roads) - whether they be motorways, local authorities or service providers - are obliged to provide the necessary resources and they can be held responsible in case of deficiency.