I've had this problem a couple of times - I use the M25 a lot. To be honest though I don't drive new cars and I'm never too worried about the paintwork I've got better things to worry about!

Once though I got stuck behind some gritters, 3 of them came out of the sliproad together then took up the whole road side by side as they gritted. A queue quickly built up (I was 1 car back) but since they were doing 60mph it wasn't too bad, and we all hung well back to avoid the spray. I'd never seen it before and it seems to me it's by far the quickest and easiest way of doing it, I don't know why they don't do it all the time.

Don't have that problem here in Belfast. The Roads service changed over to salt instead of rocksalt about 4 years ago and it's too light to damage a vehicle.

Somewhere in England (not sure where) they are trialling some sort of raw sugar stuff this year, apparently it's cheaper and more effective at stopping ice forming.

Anyone know what county are doing this?

Somewhere in England (not sure where) they are trialling some sort of raw sugar stuff this year' date=' apparently it's cheaper and more effective at stopping ice forming.

Anyone know what county are doing this?[/quote']

Up in Shetland they used to use crushed rock from the council quarry to save money. No salt - just a powdered rock. Feck all use :(

I saw something on sky the other evening about Austrian roads. Apparently they had some contaminated wine a couple of years ago and had to withdraw the stuff from sale.

They mixed this with salt and spread it on roads to thaw the ice.

Somewhere in England (not sure where) they are trialling some sort of raw sugar stuff this year' date=' apparently it's cheaper and more effective at stopping ice forming.

Anyone know what county are doing this?[/quote']

I think I heard on the radio the other day that they had to stop using this as the local wildlife were straying onto the road to eat it and getting splatted.

Somewhere in England (not sure where) they are trialling some sort of raw sugar stuff this year' date=' apparently it's cheaper and more effective at stopping ice forming.

Anyone know what county are doing this?[/quote']

Its a mixture of molasses and salt. The salt still does the de-icing (by lowering the freezing point of water) and the molasses makes it sticky so that the salt stays on the road longer rather than being washed away quickly - so should reduce the need to salt. I was told where it is being trialled but can't remember now!

Its a mixture of molasses and salt. The salt still does the de-icing (by lowering the freezing point of water) and the molasses makes it sticky so that the salt stays on the road longer rather than being washed away quickly - so should reduce the need to salt. I was told where it is being trialled but can't remember now!

Errr, what are molasses?

Molasses is treacle like by product of sugar refining IIRC.

I quote-

Urea, glycol, calcium magnesium acetate and anti-freeze are all alternatives to rock salt however, such alternatives are much more expensive than salt and are only used in rare circumstances

urea can be 10 times more expensive than salt

Glycol is as much as 20 times more expensive

Glycol is sometimes used on bridges, it does not corrode metal in the same way salt does when it dissolves and soaks into the bridge structure.

Finer salt is not as effective or as cost efficient IIRC.

I tend to use the pedal on the right

I pull over / off for 10 mins, they are gritting the road for a reason, many a time I've seen idiots passing them only to see the same idiots off the road further on.

Yes, if the gritter is gritting that means the road ahead hasn't been gritted. Hang back for as long as you can.

Molasses is treacle like by product of sugar refining IIRC.

I quote-

Urea' date=' glycol, calcium magnesium acetate and anti-freeze are all alternatives to rock salt however, such alternatives are much more expensive than salt and are only used in rare circumstances

urea can be 10 times more expensive than salt

Glycol is as much as 20 times more expensive

Glycol is sometimes used on bridges, it does not corrode metal in the same way salt does when it dissolves and soaks into the bridge structure.

Finer salt is not as effective or as cost efficient IIRC.[/quote']

Ah I see, thanks for that! learn something new every day!!

Molasses is treacle like by product of sugar refining IIRC.

I quote-

Urea' date=' glycol, calcium magnesium acetate and anti-freeze are all alternatives to rock salt however, such alternatives are much more expensive than salt and are only used in rare circumstances

urea can be 10 times more expensive than salt

[/quote']

Urea, IIRC, is what they use at airports.

Also use it on the Erskine Bridge as they prefer not to rust. It is however stinking, and a by-product of urine.

The M8 in Glasgow IIRC has an electric system built into the Kingston Bridge to stop it needing 'gritting'.

Somewhere in England (not sure where) they are trialling some sort of raw sugar stuff this year' date=' apparently it's cheaper and more effective at stopping ice forming.

Anyone know what county are doing this?[/quote']

Aha!

So that's the black sticky **** that covered my wheelarches (and intercooler, via the pikey mod) this time last year. I wondered why it had disappeared by the time I got round to taking the wheel arch liner out.

This was the Leicestershire stretch of the M1. I think they tried it once and gave up. Looks very salty this year.

Never mind a few stone chips, imagine the damage that your car would suffer if you skidded off the road into a wall or tree if none of them were salted.

Salting the roads is a horrid job (my dad used to do it years ago) and it gets taken for granted all too often.

Easy for me to say, I drive a bloomin' company car that changes every 2 years:rolleyes:

erm, I tend to grimmace as I go past and shout expletives.. I try to time it so that another vehicle gets it in the side more than me.. but generally the faster you go into it, the stuff hits you harder.. if you went into it at 60mph and it was chucked towards you at 60mph - a nice combined speed of 120mph.. hmm.. that's probably like being hit by a 2cm diameter hailstone in the neck. ouch!

Regards,

Never mind a few stone chips' date=' imagine the damage that your car would suffer if you skidded off the road into a wall or tree if none of them were salted.

Salting the roads is a horrid job (my dad used to do it years ago) and it gets taken for granted all too often.

Easy for me to say, I drive a bloomin' company car that changes every 2 years:rolleyes:[/quote']

One of my mates is a gritter driver, bloody life of riley he has!! although he's on standby 24/7 he only ever gets called out in the winter months (obviously) does bu**er all 9 months of the year and gets paid pretty handsomely for it too!! - git!!

One of my mates is a gritter driver, bloody life of riley he has!! although he's on standby 24/7 he only ever gets called out in the winter months (obviously) does bu**er all 9 months of the year and gets paid pretty handsomely for it too!! - git!!

Where abouts does he live?

Most gritting in UK is now done by people who work for the rest of the year doing other repairs or maintenance on the road, driving lorries etc. If he really does do nothing else for the rest of the year his council need a boot up the a**e

Was tempted to report the gritter doing 70 mph down a dual carriageway.Sat alongside him for a minute to see if he would slow down.No.

Thought 60 was the max for these vehicles and a lot less when gritting?

I work for Cambridgeshire County Council Highways...

Our gritters are "pre wet". Basically the salt is mixed with brine, so that it a) lessens the damage caused by grit, and it stays on the road longer, especially in windy conditions.

All our gritter drivers are roadmen by day, and gritter drivers by night. And the pay really isn't great. :thumbdwn:

I always get as far away from the gritter as possible, bloody things. Don't think I've ever overtaken ones.

Oh, and all our gritters can be tracked by GPS, and they are not limited when not gritting. However, when gritting, they are limited to 30mph.

Oh' date=' and all our gritters can be tracked by GPS, and they are not limited when not gritting. However, when gritting, they are limited to 30mph. [/quote']

Ah.He had his flashing orange light on even if he wasn't gritting.Was certainly giving it some stick:(

Where abouts does he live?

Most gritting in UK is now done by people who work for the rest of the year doing other repairs or maintenance on the road' date=' driving lorries etc. If he really does do nothing else for the rest of the year his council need a boot up the a**e[/quote']

South East, not sure exactly which council do it but I think its East Sussex County Council, and it wouldn't surprise me if they did need a boot up their ar*e, they haven't got a clue what their doing and seem to throw away money left right and centre!

I work for Cambridgeshire County Council Highways...

Our gritters are "pre wet". Basically the salt is mixed with brine' date=' so that it a) lessens the damage caused by grit, and it stays on the road longer, especially in windy conditions.

All our gritter drivers are roadmen by day, and gritter drivers by night. And the pay really isn't great. :thumbdwn:

I always get as far away from the gritter as possible, bloody things. Don't think I've ever overtaken ones.

Oh, and all our gritters can be tracked by GPS, and they are not limited when not gritting. However, when gritting, they are limited to 30mph. [/quote']

That sounds like a much more sensible idea than what our guys do, If its windy you can just watch the salt/grit blowing straight off the road!!

They dont hang around either, one went past me at about 50mph the other day, round a roundabout then back up past me gunning it big time, all in a 30mph limit whilst spraying grit! I guess they are trying to keep up with some impossibly stupid schedule worked out by some tw*t sitting in a cosy office!!

Our gritting men are certainly the same people who do things like cut the grass in the summer, some of them are dustcart drivers etc. They get paid ok because of the antisocial hours but nothing special. I can't see anyone being paid a full time wage for doing a job a few weeks a year.