Frequently Asked Questions

Salt brine is a solution of salt (typically sodium chloride) and water. It has a freezing point lower than pure water and, as such, is a useful tool in reducing the adhesion of snow and ice to road surfaces. The freezing point of brine is a function of the salt being used in the bring (sodium chloride or calcium chloride) and the percentage by weight of the salt in the solution.

Rock salt, or solid salt, is simply crystals of sodium chloride. Until it has gone into solution - that is, until it has formed brine, will do nothing to stop snow from freezing to the pavement surface. Agencies that use rock salt in their winter maintenance activities are doing so to create brine on the road surface. Therefore brine is an integral and critical part of winter maintenance activities.

• Anti-icing is the proactive approach taken to decrease the likelihood of snow and ice bonding to the pavement surface. Anti-icing involved placing a layer of brine on the surface of the pavement before the winter storm has begun. This layer prevent snow and ice from freezing to the road.
• De-icing is the alternative to anti-icing which is when the snow has bonded to the road, to use pre-wet rock salt to break the bond between the snow and the pavement.

Studies have shown that anti-icing will achieve the same level of service on a road or highway using 1/4 to 1/5 the amount of salt used in de-icing. Typically, anti-icing is preformed using trucks carrying large tanks, which have pumps to spray the brine onto the pavement surfaces. In many places, lines or stripes of brine can be seen on a road before a given event.

At this time, not all streets will use the salt brine solution. These are the following streets that we will utilize the salt brine solution until we grow the program more:

1st District

• 10th Avenue
• College Avenue
• Fairview Avenue
• Hawthorne Avenue/E.W. Luther School
• Lake Drive
• Milwaukee Avenue
• N Chicago Avenue
• Rawson Avenue

2nd District

• 10th Avenue
• 5th Avenue
• 9th Avenue
• Columbia Avenue
• Fire Department
• Marion Avenue/Lakeview School
• Marquette Avenue
• Marquette Avenue
• Marshall Avenue to Water Utility
• Milwaukee Avenue

3rd District

• 15th Avenue
• 17th Avenue
• Blakewood Avenue/Blakewood School
• Columbia Avenue
• Drexel Boulevard
• Forest Hill Avenue
• Marquette Avenue
• Milwaukee Avenue
• Nicholson Avenue
• Police Department/City Hall
• S Chicago Avenue

4th District

• 15th Avenue / Middle-High School
• 17th Avenue
• College Avenue
• Milwaukee Avenue
• Nicholson Avenue
• Parkway Drive
• Rawson Avenue / Rawson School