On 3/11/2015 7:10 AM, Adam Kubias wrote:
On 2015-03-10 11:21 PM, Tyler B. wrote:
On 3/9/2015 4:32 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
I mean the stuff that our state uses on highways: big, irregular
yellowish crystals. They always seem to be slightly wet.

I come away from Googling with the impression that as long as the
humidity is over 75%, road salt will be absorbing water.

I've got a couple of 5-gallon buckets of it that I am saving for next
winter and wonder if it is worth leaving the buckets uncovered for a few
weeks of lower-humidity weather in hopes of drying it out.

Does the stuff dry out? Or is the water adsorption a one-way street?


Keep it under roof, like a shed or garage. If it's already wet, chances
are it will be a huge clump.

Your State may be using Moroccan salt. Some States barged over hundreds
of thousands of tons, since a shortage was anticipated. Most if not all
States spec out their salt size, but this salt from Morocco is huge. I
just hauled some Moroccan salt from the Great Lakes area, even tho there
are salt mines under the lakes! I did notice the salt appeared to wet.
And no, it's not supposed to be wet, that is what activates it. That's
another subject, but trucks have a pre-wetting system on them, which can
be filled with brine/beet juice/ or calcium. There's a whole slew of
new liquid products on the market for pre-wetting.

The pre-wetting is just so the salt doesn't bounce around as much. In
Ontario, the provincial system no longer uses pre-wet, since we assume
the roads are wet with snow or frozen rain when the salt is dropped.

Um no it isn't. It's a tool to manage deicing. Brine to prewet is used
at 20+ degrees, Beet-Heat is used down to 10 degrees, and liquid calcium
is for under 10 degrees. The spinner speed along with the speed of the
truck, which both help control bounce. To say pre-wetting is _JUST_ for
control of bounce is a WAG and nothing more. You adjust the system to
put down 5 to 8 gallons of liquid for every ton of material. If you
haven't seen how quick you can deice with settings set to pump 25 to 40
gallons per ton, then you really don't have an idea of what you're
talking about.


With over 15 years of experience and constant training, I believe I know
a bit about managing storms.