Here's why our cars are rusty piles.

[blk7gxn]

This is the stuff my dad is really, really knowledgeable about. Back when he was still working for an engineering firm he did a lot of work for different municipalities and several PennDOT projects.

Last night after seeing the beet juice post I asked him about it. He told me beet juice has been around for a long time, maybe under different names but it's not a new product. He said when he was doing work for PennDOT they did an extensive cost benefit analysis study on probably a dozen or more alternatives to road salt, primary concern being bridge, overpass, and road surface deterioration. And the cost benefit analysis showed that there were several products that were actually worth using in the long run. He said one was some type of alcohol. However it wasn't a big enough cost difference and would take several years before costs started balancing out, and more importantly, it's all political. Try convincing politicians who know absolutely nothing about anything to use a slightly more expensive product now to save money in the long run. Politicians can't think more than 5 minutes into the future much less several years. And if it's more expensive, well that might cut into their annual raises, but they will tell you "It'll hurt the taxpayers, and salt isn't even corrosive according to our salt supplier (who the politician just happens to own a stake in) and blah, blah, blah..."


Ya know, politics.

You hit the description of a politician to a big capital T! they should change the Webster dictionary definition of a politician to IDOT

 

[scoti]

This is the stuff my dad is really, really knowledgeable about. Back when he was still working for an engineering firm he did a lot of work for different municipalities and several PennDOT projects.

Last night after seeing the beet juice post I asked him about it. He told me beet juice has been around for a long time, maybe under different names but it's not a new product. He said when he was doing work for PennDOT they did an extensive cost benefit analysis study on probably a dozen or more alternatives to road salt, primary concern being bridge, overpass, and road surface deterioration. And the cost benefit analysis showed that there were several products that were actually worth using in the long run. He said one was some type of alcohol. However it wasn't a big enough cost difference and would take several years before costs started balancing out, and more importantly, it's all political. Try convincing politicians who know absolutely nothing about anything to use a slightly more expensive product now to save money in the long run. Politicians can't think more than 5 minutes into the future much less several years. And if it's more expensive, well that might cut into their annual raises, but they will tell you "It'll hurt the taxpayers, and salt isn't even corrosive according to our salt supplier (who the politician just happens to own a stake in) and blah, blah, blah..."


Ya know, politics.

I bet it's more about what they can impact NOW (while they're in current office). Immediate impact helps them stay there. Save money now on this years budget vs. thinking after x years the cost evens out & then savings begin (plus the benefits of reduced maintenance). But then there's the decline in $$ brought in by "revitalizing" areas that have deteriorated. It's a cycle. Sometimes a vicious one.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

The proper place for Calcium Chloride is in swiming pool water, not on the road. They use it some in NJ but they mainly use brine which is still nasty.

Remember the leaded water problem in Flint, MI? That was caused by road salt attacking the underground pipes, making them leach lead. Several towns in NJ ard having similar lead issues because of salt getting into rivers.

 

[lilbowtie]

Since I was younger (living in Mi) I was into rustproofing my cars. Used LPS #3 which we used @ work and I bought it by the gallon. It worked great and it didn't hurt that there was a quarter car wash on my corner which I spent a lot money just spaying the underside of my car when salt was out. Now days I lease a transportation car and don't care.

 

[Cajun83HO]

Salt really will mess your mind up too.
You'll be wanting to kill the unborn babies, and be scared of guns, turns you into a Democrats.......

 

[joesregalproject]

I bet it's more about what they can impact NOW (while they're in current office). Immediate impact helps them stay there. Save money now on this years budget vs. thinking after x years the cost evens out & then savings begin (plus the benefits of reduced maintenance). But then there's the decline in $$ brought in by "revitalizing" areas that have deteriorated. It's a cycle. Sometimes a vicious one.

I'm sure this is true. They generally aren't worried about doing what is right or even logical, they are worried about their public image. My dad said that was why he got out of it. He used to have to go to Harrisburg once a month (and BTW Harrisburg is a ****ing dump) and meet with whoever the hell these people were (PennDOT officials, state senators, I guess). He'd show up with reports of something that needed fixed or replaced or whatever, and 10 people who couldn't figure out how to use a screwdriver would tell him "no it doesn't" and proceed to give him 15 reasons why he is wrong.

 

[pontiacgp]

Salt really will mess your mind up too.
You'll be wanting to kill the unborn babies, and be scared of guns, turns you into a Democrats.......

 

[carl]

Salt & Brine suck. my 2000 dodge ram was shot, 4 doors, both fenders & both rockers & cab mounts are gone. and the frame is rusty as hell. this sucks. at least my el camino lived in Florida for the most part.

 

[Donagain]

I had a neighbor who spread salt for the county. I noticed him doing it when we we hadn't had snow in a week and the roads were bone dry . He said they were subcontractors . If they salt they get paid if they don't salt they don't . That should be a crime.

 

[pontiacgp]

as I posted my son cannot use any salt on his property so instead I let him in on what people did when there was no salt for ice.....he uses the ash from his woodstove....