Comments on: Fun winter-time jokes http://www.crazybutable.com/weblog/archives/2009/12/11/fun-winter-time-jokes/ A weblog for people who otherwise wouldn't. Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:11:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: John Wilson http://www.crazybutable.com/weblog/archives/2009/12/11/fun-winter-time-jokes/comment-page-1/#comment-230341 John Wilson Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:45:52 +0000 http://www.crazybutable.com/weblog/?p=1213#comment-230341 Yeah, and they throw salt down on it, which, at those temps, does nothing, so it acts like sand. Some municipalities throw down a liquid solution of calcium chloride and water, which melts ice at a lower temperature but still freezes solid when it gets too cold. What they really need to do is throw down a hell of a lot more sand than they do, but that's a pain for the freeways because when the ice all melts on a warm day the freeways would be covered in sand, which doesn't work too well for the traction either. Since the county can't put sand on the freeways they don't bother putting a bunch of sand in the trucks for the back roads, since they'd have to have two sets of salt/sand/plow trucks then and that would be more expensive to keep track of. So they dump salt everywhere, at the slightest provocation, sometimes right on top of a couple inches of snow, which turns to slush, which dilutes the salt, so you wind up with a thin layer of ice underneath a mound of slush. At night it gets below zero again and eventually the whole shebang freezes so it's like, textured ice. GOTO 10, etc. Yeah, and they throw salt down on it, which, at those temps, does nothing, so it acts like sand. Some municipalities throw down a liquid solution of calcium chloride and water, which melts ice at a lower temperature but still freezes solid when it gets too cold.

What they really need to do is throw down a hell of a lot more sand than they do, but that’s a pain for the freeways because when the ice all melts on a warm day the freeways would be covered in sand, which doesn’t work too well for the traction either. Since the county can’t put sand on the freeways they don’t bother putting a bunch of sand in the trucks for the back roads, since they’d have to have two sets of salt/sand/plow trucks then and that would be more expensive to keep track of.

So they dump salt everywhere, at the slightest provocation, sometimes right on top of a couple inches of snow, which turns to slush, which dilutes the salt, so you wind up with a thin layer of ice underneath a mound of slush. At night it gets below zero again and eventually the whole shebang freezes so it’s like, textured ice.

GOTO 10, etc.

]]> By: Amy http://www.crazybutable.com/weblog/archives/2009/12/11/fun-winter-time-jokes/comment-page-1/#comment-230278 Amy Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:33:42 +0000 http://www.crazybutable.com/weblog/?p=1213#comment-230278 Yeah, I had to stop and think about it, and I realized the difference. Down here, if we get ice, the temperature stays close enough to freezing that with even a tiny bit of friction, you get melt, rendering surfaces undrivable. In the situation you're describing, it's harder to get surface melt -- so yeah, a teense of traction. Still, scary. Be safe. -- southern friend. Yeah, I had to stop and think about it, and I realized the difference. Down here, if we get ice, the temperature stays close enough to freezing that with even a tiny bit of friction, you get melt, rendering surfaces undrivable. In the situation you’re describing, it’s harder to get surface melt — so yeah, a teense of traction.

Still, scary. Be safe.

– southern friend.

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