Don’t You Salt the Roads Out There in the Pacific Northwest?
So, I am in Michigan, visiting family for the holidays, and never in a million years did I anticipate having to postpone my return to Portland due to too much snow.
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Everyone I talk to here is amazed that one) Portland doesn’t always get this much snow, and two) that no one salts the roads in Portland.
No, Portland does not salt the roads. And as another installment of lulu’s love of trivial facts…
A Short History of Road Salt
New Hampshire was the first state to employ the use of (a measly 5000 tons of) salt to melt ice and snow on its roads back in 1940-1941. Before salt, everyone used sand or cinders to create an abrasive surface on ice and snow in order to allow car tires to grip the surface and not slip and slide all over the place. However, salt took off in popularity after World war II and the building of the nation’s interstate system, and by the end of the 1960’s, 10 million tons of salt were used throughout the US.
Much like adding salt to a pot of water before boiling it to lower the boiling temperature, salt also lowers the temperature at which water freezes. Road salt can effectively lower water’s freezing temperature to around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Any colder than that, and salting is pointless.
So why doesn’t Portland salt the roads?
Ever heard the term, salting the Earth? Supposedly, after the Punic Wars, Rome salted the farmlands around Carthage as punishment and as a way to prevent Carthage from rebuilding. Salt kills vegetation, and prevents anything from growing on that soil for years to come.
Well, road salt acts in the same way. Of course, the salt is diluted with all that snow and ice, but over the years, that salt accumulates, and detrimental effects come to the surface.
Not to mention the damage that salt, a corrosive, causes to vehicles, roads, bridges, etc.
Portland, snow, winter, storm, roads, ice, sand, salt, de-icing, transportation, New Hampshire
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