Ancient salt the new thing for NPC

The Nez Perce County Road and Bridge Department is debuting a new product this winter that is positively prehistoric.

It goes by the brand name Ice Slicer, and it is composed of pink salt crystals deposited during the Jurassic Era that are mined from deep under the deserts of southern Utah. And unlike other treatments that are applied after a snow event, the product is used before a storm as an anti-icer that can keep ice from bonding to the road surface.

“That stuff is almost as old as the dinosaurs,” Lewiston area road foreman Paul Snider quipped about the Ice Slicer. “But it’s completely new for us.”

Snider has been with the road department for 33 years. At the beginning of his tenure, crushed rock was the only material that crews would put down to improve traction on slick roads. Over the years, however, the department has added two forms of magnesium to its arsenal. It uses a dry magnesium to mix with its crushed rock to add some snow- and ice-melting ability, as well as liquid magnesium chloride to treat thicker ice.

There hasn’t been much opportunity to use the Ice Slicer this winter because of the relatively mild conditions, but Snider said that so far it has lived up to the manufacturer’s sales pitch.

“It’s a lot more environmentally friendly, and it’s not as corrosive,” he said. “And before (Ice Slicer), we would wait for the storm and put the material (like magnesium chloride) down on top of the ice and snow. But this way, we’re putting it down before the storm so that when we get to it, it’s a lot easier to remove. All we need is that crystal ball to predict the weather.”

As snow falls onto the pre-applied Ice Slicer, it starts to melt into water and combine with the salts to form a brine. That salty solution keeps ice from freezing to the roadway, making it a cinch for plows to come by and clear it away.

Another benefit of pre-treatment is efficiency, Snider added. He said it takes four times less material to prevent ice from forming than it takes to melt it after a storm. And the manufacturer leaves in other trace elements that can buffer the corrosive properties of the salt, making it more friendly to vehicle undercarriages. That means it is also less corrosive to road department equipment, bridges and guardrails.

The road department has gotten a few calls from folks who are confused about the new product. One question is about its pink color, but others have wondered why they’ve seen county sanding trucks rumbling down the road and not appearing to apply any sand.

Snider said those trucks are actually applying a relatively small amount of Ice Slicer, and only dropping it in the portion of the lanes where the rubber meets the road. That way, they can make it last longer. The product can be about twice the cost of other forms of salt, but that targeted application means that it is ultimately more cost-effective.

Still, the road department won’t switch to exclusive use of the ancient pink salts since it is only being used for pre-storm applications, Snider added.

“It’s only one tool,” he said. “We’ll still be using our magnesium chloride and our sanding material. It’s just a different tool to use in different conditions.”

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or at (208) 310-1901, ext. 2266.