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Salsa de sal?

Dave2000

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Today I was called out to a non starting Kia Carnival. I had to travel inland and upwards to around 500 metres. The sun was shining but it was bloody cold, after diagnosing the cold start heater matrix had failed (similar setup to the 24 valve 80), I ordered a new one 232.00 euros.........cough, and after beig told it will be here sometime next week I started making my way home. Following a windy hill road up to the bypass l I noticed what looked like tracks made in a wet surface, but it was not raining, and the road in the other direction was dry odd methinks? And then coming towards me was what appeared to be a road cleaning machine, there was a spray bar at the front with what looked like high pressure foamy substance coming from it. The driver stopped the spray as we closed on each other, and restarted once passed, the foam behind him was almost gone, the road being left with lines as per the picture below. I was not on a road I could stop on and carried on back downhill towards the coast, then the lines cut of abruptly as the sprayer had been switched off as it left the carriageway.

Salsa de sal.jpg


Looking at the picture you would be forgiven for thinking it is tracks on an icy road but this is not the case, this is how it has dried coming out of the machine.

My next stop was at another spares shop in our village, the guy having lived in this area his entire life, I showed him the pictures and he said he had heard of this 'Salsa de sal' or 'salt sauce' but had never seen it in use. The carriageway is sprayed with a foam that dries, there is no sand or grit, apparently it will now sit there until activated by damp which could freeze, the salt is activated and there is no ice.

Has anyone seen this before or has my twelve years in the sun left me behind with current thinking?

And yes I admit I took the photo whilst driving :shhh:

regards

Dave
 
Looks like salt, yes. Kills your car in less than 10 years. Welcome to Norway in the winter. (If you don't like your car) :rage:
 
Agree, it looks like salt glued to the road waiting for water to activate it? In the UK it is noramlly amix of salt and sand, and IIRC the same was used when I was in Northern Spain a few years back, this new (to me) 'stuff' looks very high tech.

FYI. the A30 running across the front of Murcia airport was closed earlier due to snow, a very very rare occurrence.

A couple of weeks back it was closed due to floods, one of the car park companies lost around 400 out of 700 of their customers cars, might need to change the 'Escape from Spain' route?

regards

Dave
 
I've never seen that, anywhere Dave, interesting looking stuff.

Here it's good old salt 'n sand mix, the sand to chip underbody protection and the salt to rust it as quickly as possible!

I'm surprised my truck is as good as it is with 21 years under its belt, and every winter has been the same (no mild one with no salt).

I always try to minimize the effects with copious lashings of clean water jet wash under there as often as possible, but that's only at weekends and with some of them missing, sadly.

Getting away with it so far, touching wood.
 
I have the dashboard out of mine at the moment so was driving my little van. The area that picture was taken apparently now has a couple of inches of snow but none settled on the roads, interesting stuff. TBH, when I see you had replied Clive I thought you were about to enlighten me to the magic properties of this road pre treatment, alas not. I have to go back inland tomorrow to kango out the rear of a swimming pool pump box, tree roots have started to crush it, that should keep me nice and warm, while up there I will see if anybody can shine a light on this anti ice 'stuff'.

regards

Dave
 
I have the dashboard out of mine at the moment so was driving my little van. The area that picture was taken apparently now has a couple of inches of snow but none settled on the roads, interesting stuff. TBH, when I see you had replied Clive I thought you were about to enlighten me to the magic properties of this road pre treatment, alas not. I have to go back inland tomorrow to kango out the rear of a swimming pool pump box, tree roots have started to crush it, that should keep me nice and warm, while up there I will see if anybody can shine a light on this anti ice 'stuff'.

regards, Dave

Sorry to disappoint you Dave...

In an attempt to compensate (not to mention I'm stuck in a hotel room in Istanbul with nothing better to do) I've done a bit of cursory investigation...

I couldn't find anything at all that gave a name to treatment methods but this article did give an insight into some of the more commonly used pre-icing treatments.

It sounds like what you've seen is a brine which is sprayed on before icing takes place, with the intention of preventing the bond between a subsequent snow layer forming against the asphalt or cement concrete pavement surface.

Once that bond forms, and temperatures remain sufficiently below freezing point, it can only be "broken" by mechanical means, such as a grit or sand treatment, or aggressive ploughing, which tends to only further damage the road pavement structure.

Pretty logical and boring stuff, really.

Amongst other articles I came across, this article gives an insight into the range of alternative (to salt that is) materials / chemicals and their applications under various ice-related weather conditions and specific types of locations.

I've concluded (rightly or wrongly from my intensive research over the last 10 minutes lying on my hotel bed -alone :icon-cry:) that it would appear that most of these chemicals can be applied in a brine form, which dries after application, relying on re-hydration by means of the next snowfall.

Yawn.

I'm such a sad person at times, time I got a life...

Hope this helps
 
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Never mind Clive, not too much snow there eh?

Well we got snow! Exclamation mark? I 'hear' you think, yep the first in the region for 30 years, and the first in 80 years for one local city. I stayed indoors where I am house sitting. You my recall I said the lorry stopped spraying the 'stuff' a little short of Aguilas where I live?

The road was closed by snowfall, so small cock up by the town hall, open at the top of the hill with the anti ice stuff but, no one can get out of Aguilas to get to the bottom of the hill to make use of it.

http://murciatoday.com/road-closure...lorca-ap_7-and-rm_11-due-to-snow_33626-a.html


regards

Dave
 
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Looking at the links you sent Clive (thank you), the Magnesium Chloride is a likely contender for the 'name that stuff' query.

It is drawn from sea water, and perhaps coincidently about a year or so back, our new desalination plant came online, I wonder if this is a storable by product?

regards

Dave
 
Looking at the links you sent Clive (thank you), the Magnesium Chloride is a likely contender for the 'name that stuff' query.

It is drawn from sea water, and perhaps coincidently about a year or so back, our new desalination plant came online, I wonder if this is a storable by product? regards Dave

Mmmm, interesting and very likely. Although a quick search only brings up the problems of what can't be removed by reverse osmosis of sea water, the most offending component seems to be bromine. Actually, reading further has been rather alarming, especially as I spend a fair bit of time in Qatar where the tap water is 100% desalinated sea water.

Lucky I only drink bottled water. :puke-front:
 
Over Christmas I missed a chance to go into the new desalination plant with one of the engineers, I will give her a shout and see if I can meet up with her, get some info and pass it on.

Re the bottled water, I hear you there.

regards

Dave
 
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