Brine — A Newer Tool to Keep Snow Levels Down
By NYC Department of Sanitation
The NYC Department of Sanitation is responsible for clearing snow and ice from New York City’s more than 19,000 lane-miles of roadways. For decades, we have used the time-tested tools of snow plows, snow melters, calcium chloride and salt to do this work in a prompt, reliable and equitable manner. But we are always looking at new and more efficient ways of working. Two years ago, we employed a new tool that has shown a lot of success: brine.
But we’re not talking about turning the City into the world’s largest Thanksgiving turkey. Rather, we have found that applying a saltwater solution on our roads reduces the ability of snow and ice to adhere to pavement. Applying brine on our roadways can also assist in suppressing snowfall accumulation, increase the effectiveness of our plowing operations and provide greater traction to those who use our roadways. And unlike salt, brine does not get pushed off the roadway by passing cars.
When weather conditions permit, we pre-treat some roadways — usually entrances and exit ramps of major highways and other challenging locations — up to 48 hours in advance of a snowstorm. We have an anti-icing fleet of 30 vehicles, as well as 7 brine storage tanks citywide, storing 9,800 gallons each — for a citywide total of 68,600 gallons of snow fighting brine. Brine is not used during New York’s frequent “rain to snow” events, in which precipitation starts as rain, because the rain would simply wash away the brine. It is used when we have cold conditions ahead of the first flake.
In previous winters, we worked with an outside vendor to fill DSNY’s storage tanks. This winter, we are piloting a brine production machine to produce brine ourselves, using tap water from a fire hydrant and salt from our salt sheds. This machine has the ability to produce 6,000 gallons of a perfect 23% brine solution per hour. For the first snowfall of the year, we used this machine to make more than 100,000 gallons of brine.
We also expanded our brining operations this winter to include bike lanes. With the piloting of 30 smaller vehicles designed to fit in the city’s network of protected bike lanes, we were able to pretreat these surfaces to suppress accumulations and protect the safety of all who use our bike lanes.
We look forward to continuing to employ brine — and any other innovations that science and ingenuity may bring — in a smart, efficient manner to fight snow and protect all who use our city streets.
