3 ms·

Road salt destroys cars, but hey, Make Detroit Great Again (MDGA)! The drawback with sand is that it doesn't dissolve in water, so silts everything up.

danans 7y ago
> (MADA) Make America Detroit Again?
- walrus01 7y ago
  Next Robocop reboot?
mayneack 7y ago
Faster degradation of cars on the road might be an upside for Detroit.
saberdancer 7y ago
What is the alternative? Roads that become icy probably destroy cars as well, although in a more pinpoint kind of way. At least road salt doesn't cause a lot of fatalities.
- kijin 7y ago
  Electric coils under the pavement to keep the surface temperature above freezing. Unfortunately most cities can't afford it, least of all Detroit.
  - bcraven 7y ago
    Which cities use that technology?
    - kijin 7y ago
      Holland, Michigan for one: https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2016/02/why_holland_spends_millions_to.html https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2016/02/why_hol...
      - Omin 7y ago
        As the article states, this system uses waste heat from a power plant transported via water.
      - karmicthreat 7y ago
        That system is pretty tiny though. It just covers the main strip downtown. Maybe 6 blocks.
      - samatman 7y ago
        As a sibling points out, these systems use process heat, not electricity. U of M has a steam tunnel system in Ann Arbor, which I believe only covers sidewalks, not roads.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    Surely that's only workable for inside cities. I can't imagine a highway having a coil for hundreds of miles.
- glidej 7y ago
  Sand, for traction, is usually the alternative. It's most commonly used in climates where it gets too cold for salt to be useful.
huffmsa 7y ago
It does, but skidding off the road destroys them too. And throwing sand down really doesn't do much. Across the lake in Wisconsin we reuse the leftover brine from the cheese industry. Its more effective and more effective per unit used than straight salt. Takes the freezing point down to 0°F or lower. Combine that with how dry it gets here in the winter and you get a powerful combination of melting and sublimation.

danans 7y ago

> (MADA) Make America Detroit Again?

walrus01 7y ago
Next Robocop reboot?

mayneack 7y ago

Faster degradation of cars on the road might be an upside for Detroit.

saberdancer 7y ago

What is the alternative? Roads that become icy probably destroy cars as well, although in a more pinpoint kind of way. At least road salt doesn't cause a lot of fatalities.

kijin 7y ago
Electric coils under the pavement to keep the surface temperature above freezing. Unfortunately most cities can't afford it, least of all Detroit.
- bcraven 7y ago
  Which cities use that technology?
  - kijin 7y ago
    Holland, Michigan for one: https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2016/02/why_holland_spends_millions_to.html https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2016/02/why_hol...
    - Omin 7y ago
      As the article states, this system uses waste heat from a power plant transported via water.
    - karmicthreat 7y ago
      That system is pretty tiny though. It just covers the main strip downtown. Maybe 6 blocks.
    - samatman 7y ago
      As a sibling points out, these systems use process heat, not electricity. U of M has a steam tunnel system in Ann Arbor, which I believe only covers sidewalks, not roads.
- esotericn 7y ago
  Surely that's only workable for inside cities. I can't imagine a highway having a coil for hundreds of miles.
glidej 7y ago
Sand, for traction, is usually the alternative. It's most commonly used in climates where it gets too cold for salt to be useful.

huffmsa 7y ago

It does, but skidding off the road destroys them too. And throwing sand down really doesn't do much. Across the lake in Wisconsin we reuse the leftover brine from the cheese industry. Its more effective and more effective per unit used than straight salt. Takes the freezing point down to 0°F or lower. Combine that with how dry it gets here in the winter and you get a powerful combination of melting and sublimation.