Winter in the Mid-Atlantic can bring harsh snow and ice storms, and without proper preparation and treatment, these storms can cause a lot of harm to roadways, people, and property. The best way to prepare for a winter storm is by pre-treating your roads, sidewalks, and highways with liquid brine to prevent dangerous ice build-up. Read more to learn how to stay protected this winter with liquid brine pre-treatments from Rasevic Companies.
What are Liquid Brine Pre-Treatments?
Pre-treating a road is done to help prevent snow and ice from adhering to the surface before a storm, potentially leading to dangerous icy conditions. This proactive action helps to cut down on the amount of road maintenance that may be required to return a road to a safe condition after a snow storm. The most popular form of snow and ice pre-treatment is liquid brine. Liquid brine can be made with Sodium Chloride, Calcium Chloride, or Magnesium Chloride, and all solutions have a lower freezing point than water, allowing them to help prevent ice before a snowstorm even hits. Liquid Brine is best applied professionally by a snow plowing company with the use of a spreader or sprayer truck. This application process ensures an even application to make sure there are no road surfaces left untreated. One application of liquid brine will protect roadways for extended periods of time, meaning you will be covered even if a storm hits later than anticipated.
Benefits to Pre-Treating Roads with Liquid Brine
There are many benefits to pre-treating your roads and highways, with the number one benefit being that applying liquid brine before a snowstorm helps prevent ice buildup on pavement. This process not only keeps roads safer for both pedestrians and vehicle traffic but also saves time and money on future road clean-up after a storm. Additionally, liquid brine product has much less product waste compared to other forms of pre-treatment, which also increases the efficiency of the application. Another benefit to applying liquid brine to your roads and highways before a storm is that it allows snow removal and ice management crews to treat more areas, as they can begin before a storm has even started. Oftentimes, pre-treating a road will also cut down on the number of crews necessary, as roads can be cleaned much faster. This will also save you time and money. Finally, liquid brine is much better for the environment than salt, as there is less damage to pavement and surrounding vegetation.
Additional Snow Plowing Services
Liquid brine is applied as a pre-treatment before a storm hits by a professional crew to reduce ice production, however, once the snow falls, there are other snow removal services that will be necessary as well to restore road conditions to a safe level.
Snow Removal
Once a storm has ended, snow removal is typically the first service a professional crew will carry out utilizing snow plows, snow shovels, or manual hand-held plows. Large roadways, parking lots, or parking garages can benefit from a professional plowing service, as plows drastically reduce snow clearing time and ensure an even and complete removal of snow. Snow removal crews will shovel sidewalks and outdoor steps as well to make sure your entire property is easily traversable.
Snow Relocation
If your commercial business has a large parking lot or pavement surface, you may also want to consider snow relocation services. Professional crews utilize dump trucks and other equipment to haul your excess snow to a new location to be disposed of. This service eliminates the large piles of snow that can accumulate in your parking lot over the winter and helps prevent the dirty mess they can cause. Large dirty snow piles can take up parking spaces and block the accessibility of your commercial business, leading to inconveniences for your employees and customers. Snow relocation is a great way to maintain your commercial business’s aesthetic appeal and functionality without the hindrance to pedestrians and vehicles of large snow piles.
Ice Management
If you do not pre-treat your roadways with Liquid Brine before a storm, additional ice management services will be required to protect the safety of your roads. The most popular ice melt products are Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Chloride, and these hygroscopic salts absorb moisture from the air to lower the freezing point of water. Unlike liquid brine, they come in both pellet and flake forms. If you have a large open parking lot or irregularly-shaped space, you may want to consider Magnesium Chloride or Calcium Chloride pellets, as their round shape allow movement after application. In this way, they can be manipulated and spread to all your hard-to-reach spaces. Magnesium Chloride and Calcium Chloride flakes have a hard, flat shape, which makes them adhere to the road surface upon application. This shape allows for a more precise application that could potentially lead to less product waste. If you are trying to decide between Magnesium Chloride or Calcium Chloride, these products are very similar with only a few slight differences. Calcium Chloride is considered the strongest and most effective ice melt due to its 83-90% chloride concentration. This high chloride concentration makes this product the less eco-friendly option, with the potential to cause harm to surrounding plants and animals. Magnesium Chloride is slightly weaker, meaning it requires more product to achieve the same effect, however it is more environmentally friendly and safer for animals who come into contact with a treated road surface. Regardless of the type of ice melt product or form you choose, they should all be applied to your road surface by a professional snow removal company with proper equipment to avoid skin irritation and product waste.
Liquid Brine Treatments with Rasevic Companies
If you are looking for a professional pre-treatment or other snow removal services, Rasevic Companies offers a comprehensive snow maintenance plan from liquid brine treatments, snow plowing, snow relocation, and ice management services. Make sure your roads are safe this winter and get a free quote today for your next snowstorm needs.
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