SOUTHEASTERN, N.C. — Some of our northern counterparts may think we’ve got nothing to brine about.
But, with the recent winter storm hitting in early January, we may need all the brine we can get.
So what is this stuff on the roads?
Brine is a salt and water solution used to pre-treat roads, not turkeys.
“There’s a lot of myth surrounding the use of brine and there’s a lot of unspoken virtues of it,” said Brian Rick, communications officer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).
“It inhibits the formation of ice and the ability of it to adhere to the road’s surface,” Rick said. “The key is that it inhibits, it doesn’t elminate.”
The basic idea behind salting public roads is that salt water does not freeze as quickly as fresh water.
However, Rick said that some misconceptions about brine come from this belief, and stated that salt water is capable of freezing.
“Brine itself is a very specific mixture of salt and water,” Rick said. He noted to the pre-treatment of roads earlier this week, before the storm.
“Most of the material has been deposited already,” he said. “As we come closer to the event’s horizon it’s not going to do much once the winter weather comes in.”
Salty problems
Salt and vehicles don’t always get along. Brine has the potential for corroding vehicles, but Rick said that this potential damage does not compare to northern states, which are subject to salted roads much more frequently.
In addition to potentially damaging vehicles, the salty mixture may also pose a harm to the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency has studied the effect of salt used on the roads and has found that too much of it can contaminate drinking water and harm the environment. Excess salt and sand can “pose health risks to people, plants and animals,” the report states.
Since brine is rarely used in southeastern North Carolina, Rick did not believe its potential risks would be a high priority issue.
“You’re not looking at something that’s artificial,” Rick said. “I could see maybe in more northern climates that becoming an issue.”
Salt before the storm
Given the National Weather Service’s winter storm warning ahead of Thursday’s storm, NCDOT had plenty of time to prepare for potential ice.
“Believe it or not were actually fortunate to have advanced warning of a winter weather event,” Rick said. “In this case we had ample notice that we were able to begin spraying brine on the roadways.”
#WilmingtonNC crews are preparing for potential wintry weather on Wednesday, like this truck brining 3rd St. https://t.co/79eAvqhWui pic.twitter.com/k6FtQ6M8df
— Wilmington NC (@CityofWilm) January 2, 2018
Maintenance crews’ first order of business in the event of incoming winter weather is to address smaller, low volume, secondary roads.
“Basically the reason why we went for the smaller low volume roads in advance is because there’d be less of a chance of the material being picked up by cars,” Rick said.
Brine all the time
Both the city and the NCDOT dispensed brine on public roads. Wilmington maintenance crews also dispersed sand, which does not melt or inhibit ice like brine can. Instead, sand adds friction to tires to provide traction while driving over a wintry mix, according to the NCDOT’s website.
Rick stressed that drivers ought to treat road maintenance vehicles with the same level of caution as they would an ambulance or fire truck.
“My advice to folks that encounter NDDOT trucks that are spraying brine, pull over, give them plenty of room,” he said. “For most people, if you see anything being sprayed on the road by any kind of vehicle, you know not to get too close.”
Johanna Ferebee can be reached at johanna@localvoicemedia.com or @j__ferebee on Twitter
