How to Remove Ice from Driveways
As the snow falls, driveways soon become covered and unless action is taken, it will not be long before a layer of ice has built up. Removing ice from driveways can be done in a number of ways, but there is a cost involved, either in effort, money, time or a cost to the environment.
Most people prefer to make use of salt to de-ice their driveway. Salt, or sodium chloride as it is also known, has been used for many years, and is often just sprinkled over the driveway to remove ice. There is though a cost involved, despite it being one of the cheapest options. Salt will work fairly fast in removing ice, but can cause damage to the driveway, as well as to the metal of any car that drives over it. Additionally salt will harm plants as it prevents them absorbing nutrients and moisture. Salt will only work when the temperature is in excess of 18 degrees Fahrenheit.
There are other chemicals available which will do a similar job to salt. Of these others the most common are Potassium Chloride, though this will also harm plants and is slower working that salt. Additionally Potassium Chloride only works when the temperature is above 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Faster working is Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Chloride. Calcium Chloride will harm concrete and plants alike, whilst Magnesium Chloride will also harm plant life. All of the chemicals do remove ice from driveways, but there is a cost often to the driveway and the environment, and ice can reform fairly quickly if temperatures continue to rise and fall.
The old methods are still the best and shoveling snow and ice is the best for the environment and the driveway surface. If thick ice has been allowed to build u,p then a shovel is not the best tool to break it up. Many stores now sell ice chippers, tools which will break up ice, allowing them to be shoveled away. Care needs to be taken when using shovels and ice chippers, as too much force could see the driveway damaged.
Having cleared away the ice, then it is best to add some sand to the driveway. Sand itself will not do anything to the ice but will aide traction for both cars and pedestrians.
Removing ice from driveways is a chore but it is a necessity come wintertime. There are a number of options available to remove the build-up of ice but there is a price with each.
Written by Tim Harry. Find more articles by this author at Helium.
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Rob English | Feb 1, 2010 | Reply
There are a few factually incorrect statements here that lead readers to believe that deicing chemicals damage concrete which they do not.
Freeze-thaw cycles are what damages concrete. When frozen water (snow/ice) sit on top of concrete and are melted by any method (sun-deicers-heat) the resulting water or brine will seep into the pores and air pockets contained within the concrete and fill them up. When temperatures drop again, usually at night, the water or brine that is contained in those pore and pockets freezes. When water freezes, it expands and will fracture the concrete. This action is called spalling. While chemical deicers will change the freeze thaw cycle, the chemical does not damage concrete; the freezing of contained water does. Good quality concrete that is well made and then sealing the concrete surface is the best way to minimize the potential for spalling damage.
With regards to statements “will harm plants” this is subjective and can be misleading in the way in which the author has presented it. Even water can harm plants if too much is applied. Potassium chloride is in fact a fertilizer component and in fertilizer terms it is 0-0-62, 62% potassium, which is a macro-nutrient and necessary for plant health. Magnesium chloride also is a source of magnesium which is essential for all life; plants included.
The chloride component is problematic and anything in excess is problematic for plants, certain animal species, and certainly for steel and metals found in vehicles. While an ideal world would have no deicers and would let the sun do all the melting, let’s not forget that deicers are applied exclusively in the interest of public safety. There is no reason to scatter deicers were it not for concerns of safety.
Sand is not a good choice and while all of the materials mentioned in the article are naturally occurring materials (sand-salt-calcium chloride-magnesium chloride), sand has been proven to be much more detrimental to the environment and public health than deicers. Ever notice the red dust cloud over dry cities? Read up on silicosis and Federal Storm Water Management Act to understand just how problematic sand is for winter maintenance.
While nobody wants to buy anything to “throw it away into the environment”, the reality is that until we are winter free or people learn to walk, drive, and travel safely across icy snow covered surfaces, deicing materials and abrasives for traction are here to stay.
I am employed in the business of providing snow and ice control materials to industry and government and have been for over 35 years. I make my living on gobal cooling and I am one of the ones who does not accept that man-made greenhouse gasses cause global warming. I live outside of Boston and my home was buried under 300 feet of glacial ice 20,000 years ago, long Al Gore arrived. Why did the glaciers recede if man was a mere spec of existence at that time?
In a very short period of time, (15 years) we have grown from using about 10 million tons of salt per year to over 25 million tons of salt per year in North America.
While it is my business, I am horrified at the exponential growth and use of deicers driven by the insane demand of the motoring and walking “I can’t wait” public who insist on ill-prepared traveling in inclement weather to the store for bread and milk while holding a latte in one hand and a cellphone in the other talking to friends about how bad the driving is in their four wheel drive SUV. Make no mistake about this; these are the people that are crashing and suing each other causing this exponential use of deicers. Imagine if salt trucks only had to go out one time at the end of the storm if even at all? Northern Maine and much of rural Canada do not use any deicers and they have learned to live with the weather that nature puts here. If the general public would embrace some of these principles, and we let nature do its job of recharging ground water in spring melt, there would be very little deicers used ever.
It is a litigious society where everyone wants to blame someone else for their mistakes and a reluctance to take ownership on any gaffe is as common as popcorn in a movie theater. Until that changes, deicing salts are here to stay and the adverse consequences of their use (or lack of use) is part of the deal.
admin | Feb 3, 2010 | Reply
Thanks for the update and clarification.