why do they grit the motorways and major trunk roads?
if they just ploughed them when the snow started, then keep ploughing them, until it stops snowing, then we wouldn’t need any salt on them. easy really.
and the salt creates its own set of problems, dirty windscreens and mirrors. and salt melts the snow and ice a little, then as the temerature drops it freezes again. so what’s the point?
or was i right when i said we needed snow ploughs on trucks■■? 
As the plough leaves a thin layer on the road which can freeze, how would that be dealt with?
ROG:
As the plough leaves a thin layer on the road which can freeze, how would that be dealt with?
tyres will keep that bit mushy.
limeyphil:
ROG:
As the plough leaves a thin layer on the road which can freeze, how would that be dealt with?tyres will keep that bit mushy.
It would still freeze and would be a skating rink.
limeyphil:
ROG:
As the plough leaves a thin layer on the road which can freeze, how would that be dealt with?tyres will keep that bit mushy.
Not without the salt to reduce the freezing point of water.
limeyphil:
why do they grit the motorways and major trunk roads?
if they just ploughed them when the snow started, then keep ploughing them, until it stops snowing, then we wouldn’t need any salt on them. easy really.
and the salt creates its own set of problems, dirty windscreens and mirrors. and salt melts the snow and ice a little, then as the temerature drops it freezes again. so what’s the point?or was i right when i said we needed snow ploughs on trucks■■?
If you were on the M1 in the Milton Keynes area on Tuesday night you wouldn’t have needed to ask the question!! They were ploughing the outside lane and gritting as well. Pity they left the rest of MK and Bletchley alone to do it 
I didn’t dare to take my trailer into where I had to change a bin, I had to leave it a mile away, on the level, and then I only got out solo by the skin of my teeth 
ROG:
As the plough leaves a thin layer on the road which can freeze, how would that be dealt with?
limeyphil:
tyres will keep that bit mushy.
That might work if the Motorway was constantly very busy but it would only take a quiet time such as night time, where temperatures are much lower as well, to see it freeze quickly
i was on the a75. a long stretch of un gritted road, just snow. it was lovely.
limeyphil:
i was on the a75. a long stretch of un gritted road, just snow. it was lovely.
Driving on fresh snow without underlying ice is great BUT once some great big 'orrible truck 
has compacted it then it becomes compact and slippy…
muckles:
limeyphil:
ROG:
As the plough leaves a thin layer on the road which can freeze, how would that be dealt with?tyres will keep that bit mushy.
Not without the salt to reduce the freezing point of water.
adding salt to the road will make the melted snow and ice become saltwater, which freezes at -2c…ish. so at -13c, like it was on the m6 near knutsford the other night. the salt was a waste of money.
ROG:
limeyphil:
i was on the a75. a long stretch of un gritted road, just snow. it was lovely.Driving on fresh snow without underlying ice is great BUT once some great big 'orrible truck
no ROG. it becomes lovelier.
You should have tried the A34 from Peartree to the M40 on tuesday evening limey, believe me it wasnt pleasant. Neither was the M40 n/b once you got on it, Oxford CC hadnt even bothered to plough it let alone grit it.
I agree with everyone else though, the situation would become far too dangerous if they didnt grit the roads. Once that fine layer of snow/ice had compacted enough it’d be a death trap, and believe me only idiots would want to drive on that kind of surface… which would put most car drivers into that and the one or two trucks I saw tuesday evening going flat out when you cant even see the lane markings, let alone stop if you had too!!!
limeyphil:
muckles:
limeyphil:
ROG:
As the plough leaves a thin layer on the road which can freeze, how would that be dealt with?tyres will keep that bit mushy.
Not without the salt to reduce the freezing point of water.
adding salt to the road will make the melted snow and ice become saltwater, which freezes at -2c…ish. so at -13c, like it was on the m6 near knutsford the other night. the salt was a waste of money.
It is true that the salt doesn’t work at lower temperatures, I think it’s about -11 but it would depend on the concertration so that maybe okay for an icy road, but on a snow covered road I suppose it would be less concertrated.
However normally in most parts of the UK salt does work okay. Maybe they need a contingency plan for extreme temperature, I believe that other countries use grit not salt.
limeyphil:
why do they grit the motorways and major trunk roads?
if they just ploughed them when the snow started, then keep ploughing them, until it stops snowing, then we wouldn’t need any salt on them. easy really.
Spreading salt on a (ploughed) road while it’s snowing helps in preventing snow to compacting into the tyre tracks. After salt is spread it can snow quite much and when ploughed road would be free of compacted snow. This just requires road to be ploughed often enough as salt doesn’t act forever.
This works only to somewhere around -5 or -6 C as salt liquids start to freeze after that. Here in Finland -8C is lowest temperature in which road administration suggest spreading salt and on that temperature it requires enough traffic on the road to dry the salt up before it freezes into a skating ring. Sometimes this gambling fails… It should be noted that the road temperature also affects if salt is effective or not.
It also requires less salt to prevent ice from forming in the first place than to melt ice or snow down by spreading salt afterwards.
ROG:
limeyphil:
i was on the a75. a long stretch of un gritted road, just snow. it was lovely.Driving on fresh snow without underlying ice is great BUT once some great big 'orrible truck
Yeah exactly the A75 is a trunk road, and treated quite a bit, so snow is ploughed away sooner or late so its fresh snow on the road.
Try parts of the borders or further north were your driving on ice which has been there since before xmass.
Or the M77 the week before xmass where there was a blasting of snow, not gritted got compacted then temps droped and trucks couldnt get up the hill. Was closed until they could clear it and treat it. Same on the M8 at Harthill.
So its not exactly a waste of money treating the roads.
That wasnt snow on the A75 youtube video that was a sprinkling of fairy dust, try the A9 for snow driving 