Engineering360: "A drive to design safer, snow-free roads"

Current methods of salt application last 1-3 days (if applied as a liquid that dries), but these stripes also wear off and are affected by wind. The proposed method is expected to last 5-6 years, as a 5-cm (2-inch) top layer. The salt incorporated into this layer as encapsulated microparticles leaches out. This leaching probably follows an exponential curve from high effect initially towards zero effect over a time interval stretching into the future.

Unknowns to me are 1) effect of liquid precipitation and its ability to also leach out the salt--if freezing is needed to enable the leaching, 2) what to do with the eventually inactive asphalt layer--remove and replace or other possibilities, and 3) the overall monetary and environmental cost of this approach.

--JMM