Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Through previous studies during my education, I have experienced that chemical deicing road salt is a known problem, mainly in southern Sweden. Road salt causes damage to the environment and also damage to vehicles and structures such as bridges, etc. Road salt causes vehicles and steel constructions to rust, leading to increased costs for repairs of damage to structures. Road salt also causes damage to the plants and the economy to suffer, when plant material and soil needs to be replaced. In order to get closer to a solution, I put up three questions.

Key Question: Are there alternatives to conventional road salt (NaCl)? How does road salt affect plants? What plants can cope with an environment with much road salt?

To find answers to my questions I did literature studies based on books, journals, reports, articles and websites. I also conducted a telephone interview that was more a discussion than an interview. The material I found was always giving the economic aspect, road salt is a proven and economical method. According to the National Road Administration, there is currently no substitute for road salt, but there are alternatives. There is currently no alternative which alone could replace road salt, bringing in all aspects for consideration. Some of the alternatives I found are not useful for the moment, because of the economy, etc. The answer of the problem is to give a solution for each situation, with a resulting demand of greater flexibility and skill. This may lead to increased costs in an input stage, but it will make positively affects on the economy in a longer term, because there will be a reduced amount of plants and less soil to replace.

There are a number of alternatives to conventional road salt on the market, chances are quite big that we may find a replace to road salt, this replacement is probably sugar solution. It will take time before the ways become free from salt. It is therefore important that we make it easier for the plants, and using our skills when we design a salt exposed urban environment.

The green sector can minimize damage by thinking through the design of an environment that will be exposed to road salt, making use of plant material that is capable of road salt, building up protection of various types, think about the choice of soil, management and recommend how snow removal should be managed, to avoid getting snow and slush that contains salt in to sensitive plant beds. In conclusion, you will find a description of what you should consider when designing an urban environment to fur fill the needs.

It requires specialized knowledge to design a sustainable salt exposed urban environment, there are many aspects to be considered and taken into account. It also requires expertise in to minimize side effects of deicing road salt.