Road salt loses its de-icing power at about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, he said. The beet juice, a byproduct of sugar beets, is supposed to work better at temperatures from zero degrees to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
They do not have a storage tank for the beet juice, called ‘‘Bite Ice,’’ so to begin with they bought just 270 gallons from Road Solutions in Indianapolis at a cost of about $800, he said. Their de-icing mix calls for about 5 gallons of beet juice per ton of salt.
They started by mixing 25 tons of salt with beet juice, which they have stored under a tarp behind their service building on Park Avenue.
They used a front-loader to mix the dark, reddish beet juice into the salt, making the salt “real pretty,” according to Steggemann.
Road salt normally bounces all over the road, whereas the beet juice is supposed to hold the salt on the road, he said.
“It won’t refreeze and doesn’t clump up at all,” he said.
It’s supposed to work well on bridges and concrete, and it’s not supposed to hurt anything or track into houses.
Steggemann said using the beet juice was an idea of Scott Vegedes, the city’s engineer/service director.
Montgomery County uses a mix of brine, salt and beet juice on their roads, he said.
As of Jan. 28, Tipp City had about 470 tons of salt in storage, Steggemann said.
It has another 150 tons on order. It began the season with 754 tons of salt, used 131 tons in December, and 126 tons from Jan. 1-16.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2341 or kullmer@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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