Automotive

Does BC use salt on their roads ?

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Mar 14, 2015
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Winnipeg, MB

Does BC use salt on their roads ?

Looking at an Acura TL originally from Surrey BC. Just wondering if they use salts on their roads in the winter? Trying to keep an eye out for things that may rust. Being from Winnipeg, we use little to no salt, so I prefer local cars that are less prone to rust issues
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Fernando Poo
MRIGuy wrote: Looking at an Acura TL originally from Surrey BC. Just wondering if they use salts on their roads in the winter? Trying to keep an eye out for things that may rust. Being from Winnipeg, we use little to no salt, so I prefer local cars that are less prone to rust issues
Depends where. In Victoria, very occasionally I recall salt being used.
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Check weather archives for your area for the last 5 years or so. Every day if any that had both precipitation and around zero or sub zero temperatures, salt was most likely used.
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I don't remember ever seeing a salt truck. It also only snowed for like a week, 5 out of 10 years or so. If you are concerned about salt and rust, lower mainland is the best place to buy a car.

How come Winnipeg doesn't use salt? you guys get blasted with snow. You use sand instead or something?
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The only cars I saw rust on in Victoria were from Ontario or Quebec.
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Messerschmitt wrote: I don't remember ever seeing a salt truck. It also only snowed for like a week, 5 out of 10 years or so. If you are concerned about salt and rust, lower mainland is the best place to buy a car.

How come Winnipeg doesn't use salt? you guys get blasted with snow. You use sand instead or something?
Yup. Sand all the way. Too much snow and ice that the salt doesn't do enough. The sand provides a surface for traction
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Jun 20, 2011
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Yes salt used, but really rarely. That's because it doesn't snow as often or as much as out back east. I think in 2014 we had 3-4 days of snow 1 month and maybe another week another month.
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MRIGuy wrote: Yup. Sand all the way. Too much snow and ice that the salt doesn't do enough. The sand provides a surface for traction
I assume it's the same for AB and SK then?
DDHLeigh wrote: Yes salt used, but really rarely. That's because it doesn't snow as often or as much as out back east. I think in 2014 we had 3-4 days of snow 1 month and maybe another week another month.
Did we? I don't remember it. Or was that 2013-2014? Altough I don't remember that either
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Jun 20, 2011
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Messerschmitt wrote: I assume it's the same for AB and SK then?



Did we? I don't remember it. Or was that 2013-2014? Altough I don't remember that either
Yes it was so brief and in some areas that most didn't even notice. I live by the hill near kerr and 54th and work near canada way and gilmore so I notice the salt.
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Jan 27, 2006
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Salt will be used in the milder climates (like the Wet Coast) since it doesn't get cold enough here for the road salt/water mixture to refreeze. In the colder climates, it doesn't get warm enough on some days for the snow to even melt with the salt so there's little to no point in putting down the salt. In addition, when it does melt, it can refreeze at night (when it's colder) creating ice rinks in the middle of the road. You don't have that problem with sand.
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Oct 26, 2008
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Surrey usually has 17,000 tonnes of salt at the ready, distributed around a number of storage facilities.

Of course, how much gets used in any year varies quite a bit. Supplier contracts typically require a commitment to a specific purchase amount.

As noted by others, for temperatures below about -5C the use of a sand and salt mix, or just sand, becomes the standard operating procedure.

The ensuing cost for later cleaning up the streets from accumulated sand and grit enters into the decision making.
(Much easier for them with salt or brine mixture where it's mainly vehicle owners who inherit the collateral damage.)

In Manitoba & Sask. many highways are slightly elevated above their surroundings so that the snow gets conveniently cleared of by the prevailing winds.
In urban areas, it can be left to hard pack and isn't that slippery at all with temps. around -20C.

So if I was in Ontario and buying a used car from out-of-province, I would give preference to those from Manitoba & Sask., with BC in 3rd. place, and Alberta a distant 4th.
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craftsman wrote: Salt will be used in the milder climates (like the Wet Coast) since it doesn't get cold enough here for the road salt/water mixture to refreeze. In the colder climates, it doesn't get warm enough on some days for the snow to even melt with the salt so there's little to no point in putting down the salt. In addition, when it does melt, it can refreeze at night (when it's colder) creating ice rinks in the middle of the road. You don't have that problem with sand.
So does ON and QC use sand too? How come I see so many rusted cars there then? Saw many rusted cars in AB too.
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Messerschmitt wrote: I assume it's the same for AB and SK then?
Harsher climates like Alberta use sand mostly.

Toronto/GTA is milder and when I was there they used salt
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Messerschmitt wrote: So does ON and QC use sand too? How come I see so many rusted cars there then? Saw many rusted cars in AB too.
It's a temperature thing more than anything else. Early in the season (when the temperatures work), salt will be used as it will melt everything and the roads will be cleared. As the season gets colder, the performance of salt gets worse (as I stated above) and sand is a better choice at times so salt/sand mixtures are used. If the temperature drops below the best conditions for salt (ie. adding salt won't do anything and really a waste of time and money), plain sand is used to at least provide some traction on the ice.
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Ok, then in that case, a lot more salt will be used vs lower mainland even in all other provinces. Where in the last 2 years I don't think it snowed more than 15 days each year, so probably only a few days of salt dispersion.

But it makes sense why there are so many pebbles and stones on the road and why my windshield was always chipped outside lower mainland, even during spring and summer. Must be because of the sand during the winter. lower mainland I've never had any pebbles hitting my car (windshield or chasis) except constructions zones, but speeds there are very low so no stones flying around
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Messerschmitt wrote: I don't remember ever seeing a salt truck. It also only snowed for like a week, 5 out of 10 years or so. If you are concerned about salt and rust, lower mainland is the best place to buy a car.

How come Winnipeg doesn't use salt? you guys get blasted with snow. You use sand instead or something?
Temp in good ol winterpeg drops below the temp where salt is effective.
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Yeah, in Ontario they sandblast the underside of your car before topping it off with salt to finish it off. BC can use ground up cars from Ontario to salt their roads.
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The Lower Mainland area of BC (Where Surrey is located) doesn't see too much in terms of winter. I used to live in Mission, BC, and I still joke, if it didn't get snow by Christmas, you weren't getting snow at all, which is fairly accurate. We're talking rather light dustings of snow in comparison to the BC interior and the rest of Canada. There's certainly the odd year where you get a decent amount of snow, but that melts within a few days. Spring has started by late February or early March, and Winter doesn't return again until late December.

I do recall from my days living out there seeing salt on the roads. But this happens once, maybe twice a year if needed. I believe salt was being used at the time due to an ice storm, which in itself was also a rare occurrence.

So in the end, the use of road salts in BC, is a drop in the bucket when your comparing it to other provinces, such as Ontario, where the winters are longer and harsher.
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Surrey uses calcium chloride brine on days it's forecast to go below 2 over night.. they drizzle it out of tanks mounted in city dump trucks, and it leaves 10 or so white stripes of salt on the road when it evaporates.. it's used when there's no precipitation and just issues with dew freezing on the surface over night.. it lasts on the road surface where rock salt is sort of overkill and may get moved to the side by traffic.. works good, too..
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